Given the nastiness of Fox News’ attacks on New York Magazine’s Gabriel Sherman, his upcoming “major exposé” about Fox News, as The Daily Beast calls it, must be a doozy.

An article by Lloyd Grove in The Daily Beast yesterday notes that the turmoil at Fox News has not stopped the network from “slashing, nasty, and deeply personal” attacks. Apparently, Fox got wind of Sherman’s latest and contacted The Daily Beast for some prebuttal by smear campaign:

“Gabe Sherman is a virus, and is too small to exist on his own, and has obviously attached himself to the Ailes family to try to suck the life out of them,” [Mark] Mukasey, the son of former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, said in an interview Tuesday after sending an email to The Daily Beast inviting a reporter to call for his comments.

“Roger is fine and doing well, and is not going to allow a virus like that to poison the atmosphere.”

Sherman has noted that Mark Mukasey, one of Ailes’ attorneys, specializes in criminal cases, such as “securities fraud cases, money laundering, bribery, mail/wire fraud, etc.” It makes you wonder how much trouble Ailes might potentially be in over his use of corporate money for such matters as hush money for a woman who accused him of sexual harassment and/or the “Black Room” ops directed at his enemies.

Ailes’ other attorney, Susan Estrich, supposedly a feminist, also went on the attack, as per The Daily Beast (with my emphases):

“This is Gabe Sherman’s last stand, and it falls flat,” Estrich said in an emailed statement, referring to Sherman’s reporting on last week’s complaint against Ailes and four other Fox News executives by suspended Fox News personality Andrea Tantaros.

“Gabe Sherman has made clear that nothing will stand in the way of his vendetta against Roger Ailes, and he will use any woman he can find—no matter how clearly and deeply troubled she is—to try to concoct allegations against Mr. Ailes.”

Citing Tantaros and former Fox News guest booker Laurie Luhn, who Sherman reported received $3.15 million in company funds to buy her silence after Ailes sexually abused her for two decades, Estrich added: “But Gabe is running out of women he can use and abuse. Ultimately, it will be clear that the real enemy of women is Gabe Sherman.”

Really, Ms. Estrich? How many women did Sherman harass? Oh, that's right, none named. Meanwhile, there are two pending suits against Ailes, at least one more is in settlement talks, and a total of 25 have reportedly come forward with sexual harassment claims.

In short, it smacks of desperation.

This is far from Fox’s first strike against Sherman. Last week, CNN’s Brian Stelter got his hands on a 400-page opposition research file. Stelter wrote, “The mere existence of the memo shows how Ailes’ allies went to extreme lengths to investigate the reporter.”

Earlier this month, Politico reported that while Sherman was writing his 2014 biography of Ailes, the then-Fox CEO said, “I know where he lives, and I’m gonna send people to beat the shit out of him.”

Ailes was ousted from the network last month in the wake of multiple accusations of sexual harassment against him. But, apparently, his methods for dealing with criticism live on.

Crossposted at Newshounds.us