Former Fox News Exec Bill Shine Considered for White House Communications Role

By Annie Karni and Eliana Johnson, Politico

28 June 18

The addition of Bill Shine, Roger Ailes’ former right-hand man and a Sean Hannity confidante, also carries some risk.

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President Donald Trump is expected to tap former Fox News executive Bill Shine as communications director, the latest sign of the network's growing influence over the West Wing. But some of the president’s allies fear that he's bringing in a target of the “Me Too” movement who will focus more attention on the president's own problems with women.

Shine, who for years served as former Fox chief Roger Ailes’ right-hand man, was ousted from the network over his handling of sexual harassment claims. The former producer met with Trump on Wednesday to discuss the role, according to multiple people familiar with the process.

The position was most recently held by Hope Hicks, who left in March and enjoyed near-constant access — if not always influence — over the president. It’s a crucial role for the message-driven president, who continues to blame many of the White House crises on his communications team and their failure to shape the narrative.

In Shine, Trump would gain a former executive with experience in reaching out directly to his political base: the millions of viewers who tune in to Fox’s primetime shows every evening. He would also be gaining a close confidante of Fox anchor Sean Hannity, the president's most vigorous promoter on television.

“He's already outsourced a lot of his communications stuff to Fox News,” said one Republican close to the White House. “He has a tremendously close relationship with Hannity, so he's going to put Hannity's guy in there.”

But the big question mark that will follow Shine into the White House, allies said, is whether women will step forward to relitigate how he handled sexual harassment claims at Fox News.

“Nobody knows what the answer to that X factor is,” said another Trump ally.

Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky filed a lawsuit against Shine last year, accusing him of failing to investigate multiple harassment accusations against Ailes that were brought to him directly. A second former Fox employee accused him in a lawsuit of helping to arrange for secret rendezvous with Ailes by booking her travel.

That may be less of a concern for his new boss, said the Republican close to the White House. “For Trump, these are temporary positions,” the source said, noting that Trump wants a communications change-up now and will deal with any fallout later.

At Fox, sources said, Shine excelled at cultivating a relationship with Ailes by acting as his “fixer,” a role Trump himself has found valuable — employing his personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the same manner — but that he is currently lacking.

Though the position has remained unfilled for months, the president himself has largely played the role. Counselor Kellyanne Conway has also taken on a larger role in formulating communications strategy. And Mercedes Schlapp, an ally of chief of staff John Kelly, has positioned herself as one of the more senior people on the team who would be the natural fit for the gig. But she has failed to gain the trust of the president.

Meanwhile, the White House has at times struggled to help shape its message before Trump tweets out his thoughts unfiltered without consulting with his top aides.

In the past, family members like Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have pushed their own candidates for the job, with mixed results: Anthony Scaramucci, famously, held the post for an obscenity-laced 11 days. But this time, multiple sources familiar with the process said, Trump has been driving the search on his own, consulting mostly with outside advisers like Hannity.

Trump has flirted with the idea of bringing Fox News talent into the White House before, interviewing Laura Ingraham to be his press secretary shortly after his inauguration and Judge Jeanine Pirro for a post at the Justice Department, for example. Another Fox News host, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is now dating Donald Trump, Jr., briefly made a play for press secretary. Heather Nauert, a former Fox News anchor, now serves in a senior communications role at the State Department.

In recent months, Trump has hosted Hannity and Shine at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Shine has cultivated a personal relationship with the president.

The pick also underscores how closely Trump follows cable news and how deeply engaged he remains with the coverage of his own presidency. The president frequently phones Fox hosts to suggest angles for coverage or to praise them for saying nice things about him.

Tweets remarking on the coverage offered by the network's morning news show, Fox and Friends, have become a daily ritual.

"The most profound question of our era: Was there a conspiracy in the Obama Department of Justice and the FBI to prevent Donald Trump from becoming President of the U.S., and was Strzok at the core of the conspiracy?" he tweeted Tuesday morning, quoting Fox News' judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano.

Shine has discussed with the idea of joining the administration before only to take himself out of consideration. A White House official confirmed Shine’s name is back in the mix for the post, but said there was no formal announcement to make yet.

Shine’s addition to the White House team would come as the administration has been losing senior staff and having trouble recruiting new talent to come in. Trump allies are buzzing about the departure of chief of staff John Kelly, as well as the potential loss of press secretary Sarah Sanders, possibly by the end of the year.

Shine coming in, allies said, is a sign of the bunker mentality that has beset the White House. "Trump figures what better way to give an F--k you to the media folks," said the Republican close to the White House, "than by picking someone they hate."