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Roger Ailes Report: Roger Ailes advising Donald Trump ahead of debates

Former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, who resigned from the company in July after mounting allegations of sexual harassment, will advise Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for the upcoming presidential debates, The New York Times reports.

According to the Times, Ailes is helping Trump prepare for the first presidential debate against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, which is scheduled for Sept. 26.

Ailes’ role in the campaign could extend past that first debate. It’s unclear whether Ailes, a former Republican strategist who helped prepare Ronald Reagan for the debate stage in 1984, will be paid for his work — or for how long he has been or will remain involved in Trump’s campaign. When Ailes resigned from Fox News in July, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort said that Ailes would not join the campaign.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied the report.

"He is not advising Mr. Trump or helping with debate prep," she said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "They are longtime friends, but he has no formal or informal role in the campaign."

Trump and Ailes have a long history together, despite Trump's sometimes rocky relationship with the cable news channel.

Ailes is still facing a lawsuit from former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson, who alleged that Ailes sexually harassed her and then fired her when she rejected his sexual advances. Since Carlson's suit, a number of other women have come forward to claim that Ailes sexually harassed them when they worked with him at Fox.

