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sexual harrass metoo

bit belated, need to disambig from assault /rape

fox ailes, bill O? chls payne ...

AN 7 26

During the George W. Bush and Barack Obama years, conservative journalist Gretchen Carlson was a prominent figure on Fox News — co-hosting the morning show "Fox & Friends" for eight years before her own show, "The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson," debuted in 2013. But Carlson became persona non grata at Fox News after filing a sexual harassment lawsuit against chairman/CEO Roger Ailes (who died in 2017).

A decade after her departure from Fox News, Carlson, now 60, discusses her battle with the right-wing cable news channel in an interview with The Guardian's Victoria Bekiempis.

Carlson said of her lawsuit, filed in July 2016, "I have absolutely no regrets. I had no idea what was going to happen to me when I actually filed it 10 years ago. I thought I might be crying my eyes out for the rest of my life. Immediately, I found purpose."

Carlson alleged that she was fired from Fox News because she resisted Ailes' advances. And she isn't the only Fox News host who alleged sexual harassment; others include Megyn Kelly, now with SiriusXM, and Andrea Tantaros.

Since leaving Fox News, Carlson has been outspoken about sexual harassment in the workplace — co-founding the group Lift Our Voices with ally Julie Roginsky in 2019.

Carlson said of Lift Our Voices, "Our main mission is to eradicate silencing mechanisms in the workplace. It's that simple."

The Guardian's Victoria Bekiempis explains, "Lift Our Voices has pushed for legislation to end nondisclosure agreements and forced arbitration in relation to these issues. They have already seen successes: then-President Joe Biden, in 2022, signed into law the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act. The legislation gives all sexual assault and harassment survivors the right to sue in court against their abusers, instead of being forced into secretive private arbitration."

Carlson told The Guardian, "We, as Americans, have no idea what the mental health impact has been on people facing these kinds of experiences in their life, and on top of that, being silenced about it. We know it can't be good…. I always say that I may never own my own story, because I'm still under a very stringent NDA, which is why I can't talk about the details of my case. But the work that I do every day is helping millions of people. It gives me great happiness to know that all of these other people have the possibility of getting justice. It's work I never thought I'd be doing, but it gives me great, great satisfaction."

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She was pushed out. He got a promotion.

Before a top Trump-appointed counterterrorism official was ousted for allegedly appearing on a sugar daddy website, she had filed a sexual harassment complaint against her superior—and all he got was a promotion.

Julia Varvaro, the former Department of Homeland Security deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism, was placed on administrative leave on April 22 after the Daily Mail reported that she had a profile on Seeking.com—a site often used by young singles seeking older, wealthier partners to fund their lifestyles.

The agency’s swift action against the 29-year-old stands in stark contrast to its response months earlier when she accused her then-superior, Paul Ingrassia, of sexual harassment.

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06/02/2025 RWW

by

Kyle Mantyla

Trump repost on Truth Social: “There is no #JoeBiden - executed in 2020. #Biden clones doubles & robotic engineered soulless mindless entities are what you see. >#Democrats dont know the difference.”

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// trump 2016 abort?

rww webbon 10 24

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"In Israel, and this should be the law of the land in our country and every country still to this day, this is a timeless principle, a timeless, universal truth," Webbon preached. "If you perjure yourself by bearing false witness accusing somebody else, whatever the penalty would have been for that person had they been found guilty, then that penalty should fall on your head for falsely accusing them."

"So if you accuse in a court of law, falsely accuse someone of murder and it turns out in the final analysis that that person is not guilty of murder," Webbon continued, "and the penalty for murder should be capital punishment—life for life—then you, even though you have not committed murder, because you falsely accused someone else for murder and the penalty for that crime would have been death, you should be put to death."

"If that were to occur and the just penalties were to be enforced, you, the false accuser, is now put to death," Webbon declared. "And that's a public death. It's a public sentence, publicly carried out, then the citizens of these United States of America, you know what they would do? #MeToo would end real fast. False accusing, playing the victim when you're actually not; you know how to end that real fast? All you have to do is publicly execute a few women who have lied."

mark robinson ## GOP gubernatorial candidate called Harvey Weinstein a 'sacrificial lamb' and defended Cosby

forbes

scottie Nell Hughes, a political commentator who often appeared on cable news channels, including Fox News, has filed a complaint against 21st Century Fox, Fox News and Charles Payne alleging that Fox Business host Payne raped her in 2013 and that the network retaliated against her after she came forward with her claims earlier this year. The charges listed are gender motivated violence, gender discrimination, retaliation and defamation.

"We intend to aggressively litigate Ms. Hughes’s claims and hold Fox accountable to the fullest extent under the law," said Doug Wigdor, Hughes' attorney, in a statement. Wigdor represents many plaintiffs involved in lawsuits against Fox News.

Payne, the host of Fox Business Network's Making Money, has been at the network since it launched in 2007 and returned to air earlier this month after the network had suspended and investigated him following Hughes' original claims in late June.

“The latest publicity stunt of a lawsuit filed by Doug Wigdor has absolutely no merit and is downright shameful. We will vigorously defend this," Fox News said in a statement.

"My client Charles Payne vehemently denies any wrongdoing and will defend himself vigorously against this baseless complaint. We are confident that when the evidence is presented in this case, Mr. Payne will be fully vindicated and these outrageous accusations against him will be confirmed as completely false," said Payne's lawyer, Jonathan Halpern, in a statement.

These allegations were revealed in further detail today in the lawsuit, in which Hughes claims that in 2013, Payne "pressured" himself into her hotel room and into having sexual intercourse with her despite her objecting by saying "no" and "stop". Over the next two years, she says, she was continually coerced into a sexual relationship with Payne, and this allowed her various career opportunities and chances to be on his show. But Fox News or Fox Business Network never hired Hughes as an employee or paid contributor.

Hughes alleges that when she ended her relationship with Payne in 2016, he and the network retaliated by not having her on air, and when she came out with her allegations this summer, she says the network leaked a story about her relationship with Payne, referring to a story that ran in the National Enquirerthat says the affair was consensual.

IFrame Content

"In July of 2013, I was raped by Charles Payne,” Hughes told *The New York Times*. “In July of 2017, I was raped again by Fox News. Since then, I have been living an absolute hell.”

Fox News is holding strong in its position that it did its due diligence and that Payne is innocent. "It’s worth noting that Doug is Ms. Hughes’ third representative in the last six months to raise some variation of these claims which concern events from four years ago, since it apparently took some time to find someone willing to file this bogus case," the network said in its statement.

A source with knowledge of the situation pointed out that Hughes only made allegations after her contract with CNN ended, and that her lawyers "began asking for a 'business solution' to the allegations--demanding that Fox hire Hughes as a contributor."

While it was Hughes who requested to make known her allegations to Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison, the law firm that has been investigating sexual harassment issues at Fox News for the past year, the source familiar with the situation says she also declined to turn over all of her emails or be interviewed by the law firm.

The allegations and Fox's investigation into Payne come after over a year of troubles for the network, which has been embroiled in scandals regarding sexual harassment and assault since the summer of 2016, when Gretchen Carlson accused the network's former chairman Roger Ailes of sexual harassment and retaliation. That brought to light a culture that many employees and former employees alleged sexual harassment was accepted and women feared to report it. Since then, there has been slew of oustings, including those of star anchor Bill O'Reilly and co-president Bill Shine, as well as an extended internal investigation.

In addition to the turmoil this has caused the network, it has also cost Fox over $50 million. According to recent regulatory filings by parent company 21st Century Fox, the company spent said $50 million between June 30, 2016 and June 30, 2017 to settle sexual harassment and discrimination allegations at the Fox News division. This does not include the severance packages doled out to ousted employees, which amounted to $40 million for Ailes and $25 million for O'Reilly, both of whom denied any wrongdoing.

The allegations could also be hindering future business opportunities, as they have perhaps led to increased scrutiny of 21st Century Fox's proposed acquisition of Sky PLC, which is in review for approval by British government regulators.

Send me a secure tip.

Madeline Berg

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https://www.alternet.org/south-dakota-gop-aide-harassment/

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8 22 an

**FBI Director Chris Wray** admitted in a Senate hearing on Thursday that the FBI forwarded to the White House the hundreds of tips it received about **Brett Kavanaugh** in the fall of 2018, during his Supreme Court confirmation process, but did not first investigate those tips. Kavanaugh had been credibly accused of sexual misconduct by three women, and those accusations threatened to derail his confirmation.

The revelation came as the FBI Director was questioned by **Senator Sheldon Whitehouse** during a Judiciary Committee hearing, and was forced to admit that the Democratic Senator from Rhode Island was “correct” when he said the FBI “did not further investigate” the tips it received “that related to Kavanaugh” and were forwarded to the White House.

After multiple women accused then-Judge Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct during his confirmation process the Judiciary Committee agreed to temporarily halt its confirmation hearings until a supplemental FBI background investigation could be conducted.

READ MORE: Brett Kavanaugh Caught Lying in SCOTUS Opinion Against Voting Access During the Pandemic: Report

On Thursday Senator Whitehouse asked Wray, “is it true that after Kavanaugh-related tips were separated from other tips, they were forwarded to White House counsel without investigation?”

Wray appeared to try to circumvent the direct question.

“I apologize in advance that it’s been frustrating for you,” Wray began. “We’ve tried to be clear about our process,” he claimed.

Sen. Whitehouse interjected, asking him to just “answer the question.”

“So when it comes to the tip line, we wanted to make sure the White House had all the information we had, so when the hundreds of calls started coming it, we gathered those up, reviewed them and provided them to the White House,” Wray explained before Whitehouse interrupted.

“Without investigation?” he asked, to clarify.

READ MORE: Watch: Ted Cruz Slams His Boot on the Desk in Senate Hearing With FBI Director Wray

“We reviewed them and then provided them to the White House,” Wray said.

There is no indication the White House was equipped or prepared to investigate the hundreds of tips, something the American public was told the FBI would be doing.

“You reviewed them for the purposes of separating from tip line traffic but did not further investigate the ones that related to Kavanaugh, correct?” Whitehouse asked.

“Correct,” Wray confirmed.

Wray also confirmed, as Whitehouse said, that “the FBI took direction from the White House as to whom the FBI would question.”

“So it is true,” Wray admitted.

There was no confirmation from Wray that any of the tips were investigated.

Reporting on the exchange between Wray and Whitehouse, Esquire’s Charles Pierce wrote, “the second background investigation into Kavanaugh was a White House-directed bag job of no value whatsoever.”

Snopes on Thursday also confirmed that the “administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump directed the one-week, follow-up background investigation of Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, according to sworn testimony from U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray.”

The Trump White House, Wray suggested, was in charge of deciding which tips about its own Supreme Court justice nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, the Bureau would be allowed to investigate.

Senator Whitehouse on Twitter later Thursday announced: “Wray confirms: Kavanaugh tips from tip line were sent to Trump White House without investigation; and Trump White House directed what witnesses FBI would interview.”

“The White House has found no corroboration of the allegations of sexual misconduct against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after examining interview reports from the FBI’s latest probe into the judge’s background,” The Wall Street Journal reported on October 4, 2018.

That report then went to the Senate Judiciary Committee members, who in an 11-10 vote, elected to support the nomination and send it to the full Senate for a vote.

Kavanaugh was confirmed on October 6, 2018, by a 50-48 vote.

There its no indication, based on Director Wray’s remarks Thursday, that the hundreds of tips it received were fully investigated, and there was no discussion of how many, if any, interviews based on those tips were conducted for the supplemental background investigation report on which Kavanaugh’s confirmation was, in part, based.

Watch below or at this link:

Fox News knew of harassment allegations against Tucker Carlson before his pre-planned vacation

Roger Sollenberger / SalonJuly 21, 2020

Fox News learned the details of sexual harassment allegations against top network host Tucker Carlson on July 9, four days before Carlson announced on the air that he would be taking…

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forthcoming book excerpted by Esquire reveals "another 43 allegations of alleged inappropriate behavior" by President Donald Trump, "including 26 instances of unwanted sexual contact." These women join 24 others who have already publicly said the president sexually assaulted them or made unwanted advances to them.

While several online publications have covered this news, thus far several American newspapers are ignoring the story. At the time of publication of this story, not a single newspaper in the country published a story about the women coming forward.

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https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/07/the-25-candidates-for-2018-sunk-by-metoo-allegations/565457/

... #MeToo movement is already having profound effects on the current election cycle, and not just at the national level: According to an analysis by The Atlantic, at least 25 candidates for office in 2018 have ended their campaigns or bids for reelection after allegations of sexual harassment or misconduct.

Their ranks include 12 Republicans and 13 Democrats, first-time candidates and seasoned incumbents alike. Eight were running high-profile campaigns for positions at the federal level, while 17 were state-level candidates.

What follows is a list of these 25 candidates—all of whom could have served or continued serving in some of the highest offices in the land. More than a dozen additional politicians are listed too, including those who face allegations and remain in office, and those who aren’t up for reelection until at least 2020.

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https://www.c-span.org/video/?452058-1/after-words-rebecca-traister

New York Magazine's Rebecca Traistertraced the history of female anger and how it has fueled political movements. She was interviewed by Brittany Cooper, Rutgers University Women’s and Gender Studies professor and author of Eloquent Rage

https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-does-fox-news-steve-doocy-still-have-job-after-gretchen-carlson-lawsuit

Two years ago today, Fox News host Gretchen Carlson filed a civil lawsuit against then-Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, detailing serial sexual harassment and retaliation by Ailes and persistent gender-based harassment from her former co-host Steve Doocy. Two years later, the toxic culture for women at Fox has been exposed and Ailes and his deputy have both left the network in disgrace, but Doocy continues to co-host “the most powerful TV show in America.”

Carlson held several on-air roles at Fox News from 2005 to the day she was fired from the network in 2016, about two weeks before she filed the lawsuit against Ailes. Her suit detailed pervasive harassment by Ailes and retaliation when she rejected his propositions. This included repeated sexual comments about Carlson’s body and several instances in which Ailes told Carlson that she should engage in a sexual relationship with him in order to improve her job standing.

Carlson’s lawsuit further detailed allegations of harassment by her former Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy, also dismissed by Ailes:

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