Federal prosecutors questioned Trump communications director Bill Shine about the Fox News sexual harassment scandal

Bill Shine and wife. — (Image credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter)

Former Fox News executive Bill Shine was questioned by federal prosecutors in a sexual harassment case. He still got a top White House job.

Before becoming President Trump's fourth communications director, Shine was subpoenaed by a grand jury as part of a criminal investigation into sexual harassment at Fox News, documents obtained by The New York Times reveal.

The subpoena related to former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who left the company after a flood of sexual harassment allegations. Shine eventually stepped down as co-president in the wake of the scandal as well. (Shine was never accused of harassment himself, but of covering up the bad behavior of others.) He was called in to testify about how Fox News handled those allegations, but opted for a closed-door interview with a U.S. district attorney's office, a source tells the Times.

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It's not known what Shine revealed in the interview, and he was never charged in relation to the Fox News scandal. But it raises the question of what other documents may still be unsealed, and why the White House would hire someone still embroiled in so much controversy — even if Trump does love a good Fox News connection.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.