Fox News—hereafter referred to as Faux News because it is a far more accurate title—has for some months been undergoing a Justice Department investigation, which has apparently focused on Faux News’ fiduciary duties to shareholders. Specifically the investigation has focused on the extent to which Faux News’ has or has not carried out their responsibility for informing shareholders about the high sum settlement payments Faux paid for sexual harassment. Now that Bill O’Reilly has been let go for the very same reasons as Roger Ailes, and the public has been informed that Faux News paid a total of $13 million over the past 15 years to settle sexual harassment claims against O’Reilly, apparently shareholders and relevant authorities aren’t willing to just ignore how Ailes and O’Reilly’s sexist, illegal behavior negatively impacted shareholders financial positions.
According to CNN Money money.cnn.com/… the investigation of Faux News has expanded to include an independent investigation by financial crime experts from the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) which is the federal entity responsible for investigating mail fraud and wire fraud cases.
CNN states:
The investigators have been asking "how the shareholder money was spent; who knew; and who should have known," one of the sources said. But, CNN Money has learned, the settlement payments are not the only thing they are examining.
Investigators have been probing possible misconduct by Fox News personnel and asking questions about the overall environment at the network. Investigators have also been asking questions about mysterious confidants of Ailes -- people who were known inside Fox as "friends of Roger."
Ailes, through Fox News, employed a number of longtime friends as consultants, for purposes that remain unknown. One of the consultants earned $10,000 a month by submitting a monthly invoice to Fox.
Of course Ailes ran Faux News as his own personal fiefdom, which means it is possible that he may have made some very bad, possibly illegal choices in terms of how he spent Faux News’ money. It’s about time something happened to fully demonstrate how Faux News has generally profited from innuendo and baldfaced lies, and should have never been trusted by the television viewing public. However, how fitting if it is the heinous, sexist, illegal behavior of Ailes and O’Reilly, two men who believed that they were above the law and human decency, that finally brings Faux News down.