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'An insult to women': newly hired ex-Fox exec fuels new turmoil at White House

bill shine
Bill Shine, a former Fox News co-president, was hired as White House communications director this month. Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

When the White House announced the hiring of the former Fox News co-president Bill Shine this month, the former anchor Gretchen Carlson offered a caustic response.

“This .... on the 2 year anniversary eve of filing my harassment lawsuit,” she tweeted. “Life ... works in mysterious ways.”

Carlson sued the former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in July 2016, alleging she had been fired for rejecting his unwanted sexual advances. The suit was settled for $20m and an apology.

Shine was not accused of sexual harassment but Carlson’s meaning was hard to miss. Shine was at Fox during a turbulent period in which multiple women made claims of sexual misconduct against Ailes and the former host Bill O’Reilly. Some alleged that Shine, as one of the network’s top executives, not only ignored their complaints but helped to cover them up.

Shine was named in lawsuits or complaints alleging that he ignored or sought to suppress allegations against Ailes and O’Reilly.

Laurie Luhn, who accused Ailes of sexual harassment over many years, alleged that Shine arranged travel for her meetings with Ailes. He also recommended psychiatrists she could see, Luhn said, when she suffered a mental breakdown.

Julie Roginsky, a Fox News contributor, and Andrea Tantaros, a former host, both said Shine had attempted to conceal sexual harassment complaints against Ailes. Fox News reached an undisclosed settlement with Roginsky. Tantaros’s suit was dismissed.

Shine denied all the allegations, stating he was not aware that any harassment took place. Nonetheless, he was forced out of Fox News in May last year.

Advocates against sexual assault said Shine’s appointment as Donald Trump’s director of communications showed that the administration had a dismissive attitude towards victims of harassment and misconduct. Trump himself has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, allegations he denies.

“Having Mr Shine in this White House role is a constant reminder that the White House does not appear to care about sexual harassment of women,” said Gloria Allred, an attorney who has represented one of Trump’s accusers.

“His presence there as a supporter of President Trump, who is accused by many women of grabbing them and kissing them without their consent, is an insult to all women and makes the stain of the White House even larger than it was prior to Mr Shine’s assuming this new role.”

The White House and representatives for Fox News did not return requests for comment.

Trump unbound

Bill Shine talks with Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway at the White House.
Bill Shine talks with Sarah Sanders and Kellyanne Conway at the White House. Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters

Installed at the White House, Shine has met familiar obstacles. Like those who came before him, he has not been able to discipline the president.

Last week, a tumultuous swing through Europe began with Trump insulting allies at a Nato summit in Brussels. The president then had to issue a rare apology, to Theresa May, after launching an extraordinary attack on the British prime minister in an interview with the Sun.

This week’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki provided some of the president’s most controversial moments in office. After siding with the Kremlin over US intelligence authorities on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Trump was forced to offer numerous clarifications and climbdowns.

By Friday, Shine was under the spotlight himself, amid revelations that he was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in New York last year as part of a criminal investigation into how Fox News handled claims of sexual misconduct. The New York Times reported that Shine did not testify, but submitted to a voluntary interview with prosecutors.

He was not charged. The Times said prosecutors were seeking information regarding whether Shine played a role in “intimidating and discrediting” women who brought sexual harassment complaints.

Alexandra Brodsky, a fellow at the National Women’s Law Center, said Shine’s arrival at the White House was especially striking against the backdrop of the #MeToo movement and a widespread reckoning around sexual harassment and assault.

“It sends a message that this White House not only tolerates but celebrates men responsible, directly or indirectly, for sexual harassment,” she said.

Those who “enabled abuses” were often overlooked, Bordsky said.

“Serial harassers are only able to be serial harassers because of all of the people who hush victims for them,” she said. “Bill Shine is the perfect example of a serial enabler of serial harassers.”