Roger Ailes

• 2016: In a defamation lawsuit filed against Donald Trump and Corey Lewandowski, a political consultant named Cheri Jacobus claimed to have seen a letter from Roger Ailes to Trump asking Trump to “let him know what FOX could do to help.” “Mr. Lewandowski, the lawsuit says, boasted in one meeting about Mr. Trump's friendships with major television news personalities, including Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly of Fox News, and Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. In a second meeting, Ms. Jacobus claims, Mr. Lewandowski bragged about ‘yelling at Megyn Kelly, a well-known journalist.’ ‘Lewandowski,’ the lawsuit says, ‘then took from his desk drawer a printed copy of an email from Ailes to Trump in which Ailes communicated to Trump that Trump should let him know what FOX could do to help.’ In a statement, a Fox News spokeswoman, Irena Briganti, said any message from Mr. Ailes would have been entirely innocuous. ‘It's hardly uncommon for Roger Ailes to sign correspondence by offering a helping hand, but it would be a fanciful interpretation to equate a cordial email with providing assistance to a political candidate in the vein of editorial coverage,’ Ms. Briganti said. Mr. Ailes, she added, had no recollection of ever having met Mr. Lewandowski.” (New York Times, April 19, 2016)