As we first told you late last month, longtime Fox News Washington, D.C. correspondent James Rosen was suddenly leaving the network.
Now, according to a report from NPR’s David Folkenflik, we know why. Folkenflik talked with 8 of Rosen’s former colleagues who claim Rosen “had an established pattern of flirting aggressively with many peers and had made sexual advances toward three female Fox News journalists.” One incident happened 16 years ago:
In the winter following the September 2001 terror attacks, a female Fox News reporter joined the bureau from New York. In a shared cab ride back from a meal, Rosen groped her, grabbing her breast. After she rebuffed his advance, Rosen sought to steal away her sources and stories related to his interests in diplomacy and national security. That’s according to four colleagues who say she relayed the episode as a warning about Rosen’s behavior. The reporter declined to comment for this story.
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But the incidents continued, including one last spring.
Rosen turned his attention to a younger female reporter, according to two colleagues who say she told them of the incident shortly after. Returning from a lunch together, Rosen physically tried to kiss her in the elevator ride back to the office, and once refused, attempted forcibly to kiss her again.
When we reported, on Dec. 22, that Rosen was leaving the network, a Fox News spokesperson didn’t elaborate on why, only telling us, “James Rosen is exiting the company at the end of the year.”
Rosen had been with the network since 1999.