Bill Shine, a former Fox News executive who recently signed on as a senior official at the White House, was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in 2017 about his previous employer’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations, but never testified, according to a report published Friday morning.
The now-White House deputy chief of staff for communications never went before the grand jury, according to the New York Times.
Shine, a former co-president at Fox News, spoke voluntarily with federal prosecutors from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, who at the time were working on a case regarding the late Roger Ailes, founding chairman of Fox News.
Ailes, who died in 2017, was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior toward women at the cable channel.
Shine was deemed by the victims as someone who covered up Ailes’ tracks, but did not sexually assault or harass them. Women have accused Shine of launching multiple civil lawsuits against them after complaining about the top executive’s treatment of them.
One such private settlement stated Shine specifically was involved in a $3.15 million deal with Laurie Luhn, a booking agent, who complained of sexual harassment and psychological torture by Ailes.
