Report: UK tabloid hacked into voicemails

[crikkett]

Maybe you don't care, but you should. Reliant is the company, under a new corporate alias, which has just been approved to receive the first multi-billion-dollar loan guarantee from the Obama administration to build a new nuclear plant. (Reliant's partner, by the way, is Tokyo Electric Power.)

Knock me over with a motherfucking feather.

I'm going to post cats.

[seemslikeadream]

Rebekah Brooks resigns from 18 directorships - but there are more to go


I wrote yesterday about Rebekah Brooks's resignation from News Group Newspapers. Soon after I received that notification, a News International spokeswoman explained the the company's former chief executive was in the process of resigning from "several" related directorships, including the from the main board.

In fact, it transpires that "several" meant, well, a good few. And it appears that the process was completed on Monday, according to the Companies House records.

Blogger Dephormation discovered the formal termination of Brooks's directorship of News International Newspapers Ltd, a copy of which he posted on the NoDPI site.

But look what else he turned up on the Companies House website - a raft of directorships in businesses linked to Rupert Murdoch's Wapping-based media company.

Therefore, it has required something of a mass resignation...


That's eleven. But we haven't finished yet. Here are six more...


And even that isn't the final total. Dephormation's researches show that Brooks remains a director of four other News Int related companies and the Press Association, as listed here...


None of which proves, of course, that she is not still being paid by News International and/or News Corporation.

So let's ask it once again: is she, or isn't she, on the company payroll? And while we're at it - is Les Hinton, ex Dow Jones chief, still on the payroll too?

[seemslikeadream]

U.K. Lawmaker Watson Says Hacking Documents Are 'Dynamite'

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Tom Watson, the U.K. lawmaker who has pursued an investigation of Rupert Murdoch's News of the World newspaper for two years, said documents on hacking submitted to Parliament's Culture Committee were "dynamite."

Murdoch's son James was among those who had until yesterday to supply written answers to questions from the committee following testimony by the Murdochs last month about phone hacking at the now-defunct tabloid.

After that session, former News of the World editor Colin Myler and the paper's lawyer Tom Crone issued a statement saying James Murdoch had been "mistaken" in aspects of it. Jonathan Chapman, a former lawyer for the newspaper's publisher, News Corp.'s News International, complained of "serious inaccuracies" about his own role. All were asked to supply written evidence to the committee by yesterday.

"Reading documents related to hacking that I'm not allowed to reveal," Watson said yesterday in a Twitter Inc. message that was confirmed by Bloomberg News. "They're dynamite though."

Watson didn't provide further details on the nature of the documents.

Referring to journalists who may ask to see the documents, Watson added: "And no point in journos asking for them. Parliament's rules prohibit me from doing so until my committee considers them next Tuesday. We can decide to publish then. I'm voting yes!"

Harbottle & Lewis

Harbottle & Lewis LLP, a law firm that has worked for the tabloid, has asked for privilege to be waived so that it too could respond. The firm also had until yesterday to turn written evidence.

Julie Henderson, a spokeswoman for New York-based News Corp., declined to comment on the tweet.

News Corp. fell 19 cents to $16 at 9:34 a.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Before today, it had retreated 10 percent since July 4, when the Guardian newspaper in the U.K. said that News of the World reporters had hacked into the telephone of a murdered teenager in 2002 and altered voice mails.

The scandal that followed led to the arrests of at least 12 people, the resignations of two News Corp. executives, the shutdown of the 168-year-old tabloid and the termination of New Corp.'s 7.8 billion-pound ($12.7 billion) bid to buy the 61 percent of British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc it doesn't own.

"I've run this company for more than 50 years," Murdoch, who is chairman and chief executive officer of News Corp., said on a conference call about quarterly earnings this week. "The kind of behavior that occurred in that newsroom has no place at News Corporation. We are all committed to doing the right thing. We have taken decisive actions to hold people accountable."

James Murdoch is deputy chief operating officer of News Corp., which also owns film studios and the Wall Street Journal.

[seemslikeadream]

News Corp. hacking bomshell

Clive Goodman reportedly wrote that he had 'the full knowledge and support' of his bosses.
By REID J. EPSTEIN | 8/16/11 8:21 AM EDT Updated: 8/16/11 9:11 AM EDT

The News of the World reporter who went to jail in the now-shuttered paper’s hacking scandal wrote in a 2007 letter that the illegal practice was “widely discussed” at editorial meetings and he conducted his hacking with “full knowledge and support” of his bosses, according to a bombshell report in the Guardian Tuesday.

Clive Goodman, the News Corp. paper’s former royals reporter, wrote that then-News of the World editor Andy Coulson, who upon leaving the outlet became now-Prime Minister David Cameron’s spokesman, specifically barred talk of phone hacking at the paper after it used to be openly discussed at meetings.

“This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor,” Goodman wrote.

The letter, along with several others related to the phone hacking scandal, were released Tuesday by Parliament’s culture, media and sport select committee. Names of specific News Corp. journalists who Goodman said knew of the hacking were redacted, the Guardian said, at the request of London police.

Goodman’s four-year-old letter, addressed to the human resources director of News International, News Corp.’s British newspaper unit, was also sent to then-News International chairman Les Hinton, the Guardian wrote. Hinton later became CEO of Dow Jones, publisher of The Wall Street Journal. He resigned last month during the scandal.

In a separate letter, the British law firm retained by News Corp. wrote that testimony given to Parliament in July by Rupert and James Murdoch was “hard to credit,” “self-serving” and “inaccurate and misleading,” according to the Guardian.

The Murdochs and Hinton, along Coulson and with resigned News International CEO Rebekah Brooks, have all claimed they had no knowledge of the phone hacking at the time it was taking place. Coulson, who in January resigned as Cameron’s spokesman, and Brooks have been arrested by London police but have yet to be charged with crimes.

Tom Watson, a Labour member of Parliament, told the Guardian that Goodman’s letter is “absolutely devastating.”

“Clive Goodman’s letter is the most significant piece of evidence that has been revealed so far,” Watson said. “It completely removes News International’s defense. This is one of the largest cover-ups I have seen in my lifetime.”

Goodman also wrote that News Corp. officials told him he could have his News of the World reporting job back after his six-month jail stint if he took the blame himself for the phone hacking.

News International attorney “Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea,” he wrote. “I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me.”

Goodman was not re-hired.

News Corp.’s law firm, Harbottle and Lewis, wrote that James Murdoch’s characterization of Goodman as a “rogue” reporter is not credible and that it did not, as the Murdochs told Parliament, have a mandate to investigate past practices at the company’s newspapers.

“There was absolutely no question of the firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes,” the firm wrote. “The firm was not being asked to provide some sort of ‘good conduct certificate; which News International could show to parliament … Nor was it being given a general retainer, as Mr Rupert Murdoch asserted it was, ‘to find out what the hell was going on.’”

[2012 Countdown]

Report: Hacking reporter claims cover-up at News International paper
Lawmakers say they are likely to recall James Murdoch for testimony

msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 2 hours 37 minutes ago 2011-08-16T12:57:29

LONDON — A disgraced reporter at the now-defunct British tabloid News of the World said in a letter that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at newspaper meetings, the Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The report that the practice was widely known will likely worsen the furor surrounding News Corp's British newspaper arm following allegations of widespread hacking, and in particular reports that journalists had used investigators to hack into the voicemails of murder victims. The controversy sparked an uproar in Britain that dominated global headlines for almost all of July.

"This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor," Clive Goodman wrote in a 2007 letter that the Guardian published.

The practice was done with "the full knowledge and support" of senior journalists, the letter added.

Goodman was jailed for intercepting the cellphone messages of members of Britain's royal family and was fired from News of the World in 2007. Executives at News International have said the scandal was limited and that Goodman was a lone "rogue reporter."

The letter, which only came to light on Tuesday according to the Guardian, also said that former editor Andy Coulson promised Goodman that he would keep his job if he didn't implicate the News of the World in court.

The news comes as a British parliamentary committee investigating phone hacking tabloid paper is very likely to recall News Corp executive James Murdoch in person after receiving further statements that cast doubt on his previous testimony.

"When we have the further information that we are seeking, I think it is very likely that we will want to put those points to James Murdoch," the head of the committee, John Whittingdale, told reporters after receiving written evidence from two of Murdoch's former colleagues, and Murdoch himself.

Parliamentarian Tom Watson, the most dogged lawmaker to question Murdoch, said further evidence would also be released on Tuesday that would include some "devastating revelations" that would raise questions for the company in general.

Two of Britain's most senior police officers also quit over their failure to properly investigate the scandal and 12 people have since been arrested.

Contradictions
Two former News of the World colleagues had previously contradicted information that James Murdoch gave to the committee in July at a hearing into the hacking allegations at the tabloid.

Whittingdale, who said differences remained over the accounts of what had happened at the newspaper, said the committee was unlikely to recall 80-year-old Rupert Murdoch.

James and his father Rupert appeared before the committee on July 19 and were pressed to explain their understanding of phone-hacking and payments made to the police by the tabloid.

The 38-year-old News Corp deputy chief operating officer has already said he stands by his testimony.

The issue in dispute is how much James Murdoch knew about the hacking, in particular the scale of the problem, and whether he was involved in a cover-up.

Murdoch said he had not been in possession of all the facts when he approved a large payout in 2008 to English soccer executive Gordon Taylor, who had his phone hacked.

Critics have argued the size of the payout, which was 10 times the record amount awarded in a privacy case at the time, was intended to buy Taylor's silence.

However Tom Crone, News International's former top legal officer, and Colin Myler, editor of the News of the World until it was shut down in July, have disputed this, saying they had previously shown Murdoch a 2005 email which suggested that the problem was more widespread.

The email, labeled 'For Neville', included the transcript of numerous voicemail messages and was sent from a reporter at the paper to the private investigator behind much of the hacking.

'Neville' is widely accepted to be the chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, and critics have seized on this as evidence that the use of hacking to create stories was a common tool throughout the paper.

Whittingdale said the three areas of concern were the difference of opinions between Murdoch and the two men, the size of the settlement and the payment of the legal fees for the investigator at the heart of the scandal.

Reuters contributed to this report.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44157681/ns ... s-europe/#

[Metric Pringle]

Clive Goodman's letter -





http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/interac ... ne-hacking

[2012 Countdown]

Tom Watson: Coulson must respond to 'explosive' phone hacking letter
Labour MP Tom Watson says there are a lot of people with questions to answer if allegations of a phone hacking cover up, made by former News of the World royal correspondent Clive Goodman, are true.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... etter.html

======

Phone hacking: James Murdoch admits 'hush money' payout
James Murdoch has admitted that News International paid “hush money” to a phone hacking victim, despite telling MPs that they didn't try to buy his silence.

By Holly Watt
9:09AM BST 17 Aug 2011
2 Comments
Mr Murdoch conceded that Gordon Taylor, chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association, was paid around £700,000 in 2008 in return for signing a confidentiality agreement.

However, the chairman of News International continued to deny he authorised the payment after being warned the case could expose further phone hacking at the News of The World if it became public.

The admission that money was paid to ensure Mr Taylor’s silence is likely to exacerbate claims that News International tried to cover up the scale of phone hacking at the News of the World. Mr Murdoch also admitted that News International paid a convicted criminal almost £250,000 after his employment was terminated.

Clive Goodman was given £90,503 in April 2007, three months after he was jailed for his part in tapping the phones of the Royal family. He was later given a further £153,000 and £13,000 for legal fees. Tom Watson, one of the members of the culture, media and sport select committee, said MPs were “genuinely shocked” by the scale of the payment to Goodman.

In July, when Mr Murdoch appeared alongside his father Rupert before MPs he strongly denied that News International had increased the size of the payment to Mr Taylor to maintain silence.

When asked by Adrian Sanders, a Liberal Democrat, whether News International was advised by lawyers that “a high payment would ensure the matter was kept confidential” Mr Murdoch insisted that this was “not at all” the case.

The Conservative MP Louise Mensch asked whether an “inference could be drawn that silence was being bought by the presence of the confidentiality clause”. Mr Murdoch said “that inference would be false”.

But in a subsequent letter to MPs, Mr Murdoch admitted that “since I gave this response, I have been informed that confidentiality was a factor in determining the amount of the settlement payment”.

He insisted that “I did not know at the time or when I gave my evidence that any part of the amount of the Taylor settlement specifically related to the confidentiality aspect of the settlement”.

He said he “was not party to those discussions nor was it my motivation in agreeing to settle the case”.

The settlement was agreed shortly after Max Mosley, the Formula One executive, was awarded only £60,000 for a privacy case, also involving the News of the World.

Part of the Taylor settlement covered legal fees, but the payout was inflated to include an extensive confidentiality agreement.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/ ... ayout.html

[Byrne]

Another arrest:

Phone hacking: Reports of James Desborough arrest
A 38-year-old man has been arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking, Scotland Yard has said.

The man, named by the Guardian as former News of the World journalist James Desborough, was arrested by officers from the Met Police's hacking investigation, Operation Weeting.

He attended a south London police station by appointment, where he is being held on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

It is the 13th arrest police have made.

Mr Desborough, who joined the News of the World in 2005, was named showbiz writer of the year at the British Press Awards in April 2009, and later became the newspaper's Los Angeles-based US editor.

The judges said he "produced a series of uncompromising scoops which mean no celebrity with secrets can sleep easy".

He is among the journalists undergoing a 90-day consultation period following News International's decision to cease publication of the Sunday tabloid in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

A series of high-profile figures have been questioned by police, including the company's former chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson.

After the latest arrest, News International said in a statement: "We are fully co-operating with the police investigation and we are unable to comment further on matters due to the ongoing police investigation."

On Wednesday, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson was cleared of misconduct in his handling of the phone-hacking inquiry by the police watchdog.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission also cleared John Yates, former Assistant Commissioner Andy Hayman and former Deputy Assistant Commissioner [Sphincter of the Yard] Peter [Lunchpail] Clarke of misconduct over phone hacking.

However, an independent inquiry will examine claims Mr Yates secured a Met Police job for a News of the World executive's daughter.

'Widely discussed'

The announcement followed the release of a letter by the Commons culture committee that suggested senior executives at the News of the World knew phone hacking was taking place.

Written by former royal editor Clive Goodman as he appealed against his dismissal in 2007, the letter said hacking was "widely discussed" at the paper.

Following publication of the letter Prime Minister David Cameron said he would have "taken different decisions" over the appointment of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his director of communications if he had "known then all the things I know now".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14573942

[Byrne]

Fresh links between murdered investigator and NOTW

Daniel Morgan was found with an axe in his head. His partner, used by NOTW executives, was a suspect in the killing

By Oliver Wright and Cahal Milmo
Thursday, 18 August 2011


Daniel Morgan was found with an axe in his head. His partner, used by NOTW executives, was a suspect in the killing

A murdered private investigator said he was taking a story exposing police corruption, for which he was promised a payment of £40,000, to the News of the World a week before he died, it was claimed last night.

The BBC said it had evidence that Daniel Morgan had said he was to be given the money by Alex Marunchak, the NOTW's former crime editor. Mr Marunchak said last night he had never met Mr Morgan, who was found with an axe in his head in the car park of a south London pub in March 1987.

The revelation is significant because Mr Morgan's business partner, Jonathan Rees, is at the centre of allegations that he supplied stories to the NOTW and other newspapers using sources including corrupt police officers. Mr Rees stood trial for Mr Morgan's murder but was acquitted when the trial collapsed.

Evidence gathered in a police investigation into Mr Rees's activities is now the subject of a separate inquiry by the Met's phone-hacking team. Last night Tom Watson, the MP who has investigated the phone-hacking scandal at length, called for the murder to be re-examined as part of the Leveson hacking inquiry.

Mr Morgan, until his death, worked for Southern Investigations alongside Mr Rees, the private investigator whose company has been linked to alleged email hacking. Mr Rees has stated he did not commission or in any way incite or procure anyone "to hack" any computer.

Mr Rees, along with four other men, was accused in 2008 of murdering Mr Morgan but was acquitted in March of this year. The case collapsed following a legal argument that lasted two years and after three supergrass witnesses had been deemed to be unreliable.

Mr Watson said: "Because we now know that Jonathan Rees had a very close relationship with Alex Marunchak, because we now know about the News of the World and their use of private investigators for covert surveillance and phone hacking, this is all relevant information and evidence that should be used as part of the public inquiry. I think the Leveson inquiry should examine the Daniel Morgan murder and I'm going to write to the PM to ask him to make sure that happens."

In a statement in BBC Radio 4's Report programme, Mr Marunchak said: "I have never met Mr Daniel Morgan and, prior to his death, I had never heard of his business Southern Investigations, nor Mr Morgan's business partner, Jonathan Rees."

The development came as the Independent Police Complaints Commission announced it will open an independent inquiry into allegations that John Yates might have secured a job for the daughter of the former NOTW executive Neil Wallis.

But the IPCC cleared Mr Yates, Sir Paul Stephenson and former Met police officers Peter Clarke and Andy Hayman of carrying out any conduct that breached police disciplinary codes over their roles in the original phone-hacking inquiry.

Deborah Glass, deputy chair of the IPCC, said a distinction had to be made between conduct that was either criminal or amounted to a disciplinary offence and the public concerns over phone hacking which would be investigated during the Leveson inquiry.

She said, however, there were "serious issues that need to be scrutinised" about the links between top police officers and the media.

Sir Paul, who resigned last month, welcomed the watchdog's announcement. The ruling was "as I would have expected it to be", he said, adding that he regretted that resources "have had to be expended on this matter".

Mr Yates, who also resigned last month, said he would co-operate with the independent investigation into allegations that he secured a Scotland Yard job for the daughter of Mr Wallis: "I strongly deny any wrongdoing and I am completely confident that I will be exonerated. I have been entirely open about this matter and I will co-operate fully with the investigation."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/cr ... 39694.html

Apparently Alex Marunchak was employed by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at Scotland Yard, as a Ukrainian interpreter, while working at the NOTW newspaper!

[seemslikeadream]

News Corp. Sued by Its Former Private Investigator

By Lucas Shaw at TheWrap

Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:19am EDT

Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the center of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal, filed a lawsuit yesterday against News Corp., the parent company of the now-shuttered tabloid, Bloomberg reports.

Mulcaire, who was already jailed back in 2007 for hacking, filed the suit against News Group Newspapers Ltd., a subsidiary of News International, which is News Corp.'s British publishing arm. News Group publishes the Sun, one of News Corp.'s other tabloids, and used to publish the News of the World.

Also read: Hollywood News of the World Editor Arrested in Hacking Scandal

Mulcaire remains at the center of the phone hacking scandal for his suspected involvement in the hacking of numerous victims, including the murdered teen Milly Dowler. It was the case of Dowler that reignited this scandal in early July.

News Corp.'s relationship with Mulcaire has also come under scrutiny because it was revealed that Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate had paid for Mulcaire's legal fees.

Both Rupert Murdoch, News Corp.'s chairman and CEO, and James Murdoch, who holds those positions for the company's international operations, told Parliament in their testimony that they did not know if the company was still paying those legal fees. However, they announced the next day that it would cease to do so.

The details of the suit are as of yet unknown.

[kenoma]

Apparently Alex Marunchak was employed by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at Scotland Yard, as a Ukrainian interpreter, while working at the NOTW newspaper!

Maybe other jobs too.
Roy Greenslade told an odd story in a Guardian podcast last month.
In the early 90s Greenslade, while working as Managing Editor of the Times, secretly wrote an occasional column for the Irish republican newspaper An Phoblacht under the pseudonym 'George King'. Nobody knew about this, it wasn't even a rumour, until 2008 when it was revealed by Nick Davies in Flat Earth News.
So anyway, Greenslade told the story about how he once met Marunchak at a reception in the Irish embassy in London (in the late 90s I think, not sure though). Marunchak was editor of the Irish edition of the NOTW. It was a frosty conversation, and Marunchak said to Greenslade something like 'We know you're working with the IRA".
Greenslade was most puzzled about how Marunchak knew this. Phone hacking? But for whom exactly?

[Stephen Morgan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... g_Scandal/

Yes, the story appearing is that Morgan was going to talk to the press about police corruption, he went the Marunchak, who was close friends with Morgan's partner Rhys. Rhys was close enough to Marunchak to keep in touch even when he was in prison. The NOTW, where Marunchak was an executive eventually, were Rhys and Morgan's main clients. The detective, Findlay I believe, who ran the investigation into Morgan's death, knew Marunchak and Rhys, who had paid off Marunchak's debts, and he had said, according to a witness, that he would have Morgan killed by the police or someone they had on charge, then he would retire from the police and become Rhys' partner, as he did.

Nasty little nexus.

[seemslikeadream]

UK detective arrested over leaking

From: The Times
August 20, 2011 3:48PM

A DETECTIVE on Scotland Yard's phone-hacking investigation has been arrested over allegations of leaking confidential information to The Guardian.

Police said the male detective constable, aged 51, attached to Operation Weeting, was arrested, interviewed and suspended from duty.

The officer was detained within hours of The Guardian website publishing an exclusive story naming James Desborough, a former News of the World reporter who had just been arrested for questioning over the interception of telephone voicemails.

The newspaper identified Mr Desborough, 38, and detailed the offences for which he was being questioned before an official Metropolitan Police press release, which did not identify the suspect, was issued.

Lawyers for Mr Desborough, who is protesting his innocence, complained furiously to the Metropolitan Police about the leaking of their client's identity, The Times understands.

The Guardian, which exposed the scale and extent of phone hacking at the NoW, has been able to publish details of most of those arrested in the hacking inquiry before their arrests have been announced by police. It carried the news that the Prime Minister's former spokesman Andy Coulson was to be arrested on its website the day before he was held.

The systematic leaking of material has become increasingly embarrassing for the Met because of the allegations the force has faced of improper relationships with the media, including payments to police officers for sensitive information on investigations.

Sir Paul Stephenson resigned as Metropolitan Police Commissioner last month as Scotland Yard was engulfed by claims over its links to News International, publisher of the NoW and parent company of The Times. The Independent Police Complaints Commission this week cleared Sir Paul and three other former senior Met officers of any misconduct.

Operation Weeting, the hacking inquiry, is closely linked to another investigation, Operation Elveden, which is examining allegations that Met officers received payments from journalists in return for confidential information.

Scotland Yard said that officers from its anti-corruption unit arrested "a serving officer from Operation Weeting on suspicion of misconduct in a public office relating to unauthorised disclosure of information". He was released on bail to return for further questioning in September.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, who is in charge of Operation Weeting, said: "I made it very clear when I took on this investigation the need for operational and information security. It is hugely disappointing that this may not have been adhered to. The Met takes the unauthorised disclosure of information extremely seriously and has acted swiftly in making this arrest."

A spokesman for The Guardian said that it was aware of the officer's arrest. The spokesman said: "On the broader point raised by the arrest, journalists would no doubt be concerned if conversations between off-the-record sources and reporters came routinely to be regarded as criminal activity. In common with all news organisations we have no comment to make on the sources of our journalism."

The newspaper has previously undertaken to explain to the Leveson inquiry into press ethics why one of its senior reporters, David Leigh, hacked the voicemails of a defence company executive. Mr Leigh has written of getting a "voyeuristic thrill" out of hacking the phone but defended his action saying that he was investigating corruption.

Julian Young, Mr Desborough's solicitor, also declined to comment on the leak allegations but said that his client denied allegations of illegal activity.

Mr Young said: "He was interviewed for a number of hours and co-operated fully with the police in their investigations. He denied, and continues to deny, any conspiracy to unlawfully intercept voicemails or acting unlawfully in any way. He has been bailed by the police until a date in October."

In a busy day for the hacking inquiry, Dan Evans, 35, a former NoW journalist, was also arrested over an allegation of conspiracy to intercept voicemails. Mr Evans, who was suspended from the newspaper last year, was interviewed and bailed to return for further questioning in October.

[Metric Pringle]

Andy Coulson reportedly paid by News International when hired by Tories

David Cameron is facing fresh questions about his decision to hire Andy Coulson in 2007 after it was reported that his former communications director received several hundred thousand pounds from his former employer News International after he was hired by the Conservative party.

The BBC's Robert Peston said that Coulson received cash payments from the company until the end of 2007 after his resignation as editor of the News of the World in January of that year.
Coulson resigned after Clive Goodman, the former royal editor at the paper, which was closed last month, was jailed for illegally intercepting voicemail messages.

The title's owner News International allegedly agreed to honour the remainder of Coulson's two-year contract, and the money was paid in instalments. Coulson also continued to receive other benefits, including private health insurance and a company car, for several years.
He took up his post as director of communications at the Conservative party in July 2007.

The alleged payments ended before Cameron became prime minister but the fact one of Cameron's closest advisers was receiving money from News International after he started work for the Tories will cast doubt over Coulson's impartiality. The spotlight will again fall on Cameron's close ties with the Murdoch media empire because of the revelations.

Conservative party sources insisted on Monday night they had no knowledge of any News International payments made to Coulson, after checks were made with every senior party official who might have been involved in hiring him in 2007.
Rumours of a financial relationship between Coulson and News International have circulated for some time. It is understood that, prior to him standing down as director of communications in January this year, party officials had asked Coulson directly whether he had received payments from News International during the period he had worked for them. They were seemingly confident enough to give the "categorical" assurances that he hadn't as recently as last month.

On 12 July, when asked by the Guardian, a senior Conservative party official said: "We can give categorical assurances that he wasn't paid by any other source. Andy Coulson's only salary, his only form of income, came from the party during the years he worked for the party and in government."
Coulson was asked by the Commons culture, media and sport committee in 2009 whether he had received a payment from the company. He told MPs it was a private matter but added he would be prepared to discuss it privately with John Whittingdale, the Conservative MP who chairs it.

In February, the Conservative party spokesman, Henry MacRory, told the Guardian: "I'm 100% satisfied that there is no truth in the suggestion that Andy was bankrolled by News International or by anybody else."
And Michael Spencer who was party, treasurer said: "I have no knowledge of it and would think it is highly unlikely that there was any such arrangement."

Labour MP Tom Watson, who sits on the culture, media and sport committee, said the money could be classed as a donation to the Tory party which should have been declared to the Electoral Commission.
"This is a remarkable revelation" Watson said. "Not only was Coulson being paid when he gave evidence to the committee, he failed to declare it. I will be writing to the electoral commission to invite them to look into this."

Under electoral law both the donor and recipient are obligated to report donations, meaning that if the payments are interpreted as donations in kind to the party, both News International and the party could face sanctions.
On Monday night Watson, who has vigorously pursued the hacking affair and emerged as one of Rupert Murdoch's most trenchant critics, also said: "We need to be certain that everyone involved in hiring Andy Coulson was not aware of these additional payments from NI. We need a cast iron guarantee nobody knew."

The allegations raise more questions about how closely Coulson was scrutinised by Cameron and his team before he was offered the role as one of the future prime minister's most senior advisors and whether he was subjected to the appropriate checks.
It emerged earlier this year that Coulson did not receive the same security clearance as officials of similar seniority after he entered Downing Street.

A Labour spokesman said: "David Cameron now faces allegations that one of his top advisers was also in the pay of News International. The prime minister needs to immediately make clear whether these allegations are true.
"There are serious questions to answer about Mr Coulson's employment in Downing Street and the country should not have to wait for full transparency."

News International paid off Clive Goodman, who received in £242,000, after he threatened to sue the company in 2007. Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who worked for the company, also received a payment. Both men are believed to have received their settlements in instalments.
A spokesman for News International said on Monday night: "News International consistently does not comment on the financial arrangements of any individual."

MP's questions

The exchange between Andy Coulson and Tom Watson MP when Coulson gave evidence to the culture select committee on 21 July 2009:

Tom Watson Just one last round of questioning. You knew that you were going to resign before sentencing, but on the day of sentencing you resigned from the paper.

Coulson I actually resigned two weeks before I announced it.

Tom Watson Two weeks before. And did you get a redundancy payment for that?

Coulson I got what was contractually due to me. Obviously I did not work my notice so I received what was contractually due.

Tom Watson Then you were six months out of work.

Coulson About five months.

Tom Watson And then you went to work directly for the Conservative party.

Coulson That is right.

Tom Watson And you have not got any secondary income other than that have you?

Coulson No.

Watson So your sole income was News International and then your sole income was the Conservative party?

Coulson Yes.

Tom Watson: That is great, thank you.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/au ... nal-tories

[seemslikeadream]

Attorney general to investigate NoW 9/11 phone-hacking allegations

Lawyer representing families of deceased visited Justice Department to discuss claims reported in Daily Mirror
Dominic Rushe in New York
The Guardian, Thursday 25 August 2011

Eric Holder investigates hacking
The US attorney general, Eric Holder, said he was very disturbed that 9/11 victims’ phones may have been hacked. Photograph: Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

US attorney general Eric Holder has promised relatives of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks he will begin a preliminary criminal investigation into reports that News Corporation journalists tried to gain access to the phone records of the dead.

Family members who lost loved ones on 11 September 2001 met Holder at the Justice Department on Wednesday to discuss allegations first reported by the Daily Mirror that News of the World reporters attempted to gain unauthorised access to 9/11 victims' voicemails.

Norman Siegel, a lawyer representing some of the families, told reporters that the attorney general had said it was "very disturbing" that phones of 9/11 victims and their family members might have been hacked. The relatives met Holder for over an hour to discuss the allegations.

The hacking allegation was made in an article in the Mirror last month. The paper said NoW journalists had approached a former New York police officer working as a private detective and asked him to do the hacking, which he declined to do.

So far, no evidence has emerged to corroborate the story, which has been strenuously denied by News Corp. If the Justice Department finds any truth in the claims, News Corp would face a damaging battle with the US authorities as well as a rash of civil law suits from family members.

The US authorities have considered investigating News Corp, a company listed on the US stock markets, under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over payments allegedly made to police . But the 9/11 allegations are the most serious issue the firm has faced in the US over the scandal.

The Mirror story was based on unnamed sources, including one described as a former New York police officer who became a private investigator. Heclaimed to have rejected requests by journalists from the now closed NoW to retrieve private phone records of victims.

News Corp has dismissed the report as "anonymous speculation" with "no substantiation" and said earlier this month that the company was fully co-operating with all investigations into the firm.

Ahead of the meeting Siegel told Associated Press the families were working with the FBI to determine if hacking "was attempted, and/or occurred".

"We are going to the meeting with the attorney general to listen to what he can tell us about the investigation and to ascertain the scope, the goals and timetable of the inquiry," Siegel said.

Rupert Murdoch was asked about the 9/11 hacking claims when he was questioned by parliament last month. He said: "we have seen no evidence at all and as far as we know the FBI haven't either". He said he did not know if NoW employees or the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire took it upon themselves to do it.
Attorney general to investigate NoW 9/11 phone-hacking allegations

Lawyer representing families of deceased visited Justice Department to discuss claims reported in Daily Mirror

US attorney general Eric Holder has promised relatives of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks he will begin a preliminary criminal investigation into reports that News Corporation journalists tried to gain access to the phone records of the dead.

Family members who lost loved ones on 11 September 2001 met Holder at the Justice Department on Wednesday to discuss allegations first reported by the Daily Mirror that News of the World reporters attempted to gain unauthorised access to 9/11 victims' voicemails.

Norman Siegel, a lawyer representing some of the families, told reporters that the attorney general had said it was "very disturbing" that phones of 9/11 victims and their family members might have been hacked. The relatives met Holder for over an hour to discuss the allegations.

The hacking allegation was made in an article in the Mirror last month. The paper said NoW journalists had approached a former New York police officer working as a private detective and asked him to do the hacking, which he declined to do.

So far, no evidence has emerged to corroborate the story, which has been strenuously denied by News Corp. If the Justice Department finds any truth in the claims, News Corp would face a damaging battle with the US authorities as well as a rash of civil law suits from family members.

The US authorities have considered investigating News Corp, a company listed on the US stock markets, under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over payments allegedly made to police . But the 9/11 allegations are the most serious issue the firm has faced in the US over the scandal.

The Mirror story was based on unnamed sources, including one described as a former New York police officer who became a private investigator. Heclaimed to have rejected requests by journalists from the now closed NoW to retrieve private phone records of victims.

News Corp has dismissed the report as "anonymous speculation" with "no substantiation" and said earlier this month that the company was fully co-operating with all investigations into the firm.

Ahead of the meeting Siegel told Associated Press the families were working with the FBI to determine if hacking "was attempted, and/or occurred".

"We are going to the meeting with the attorney general to listen to what he can tell us about the investigation and to ascertain the scope, the goals and timetable of the inquiry," Siegel said.

Rupert Murdoch was asked about the 9/11 hacking claims when he was questioned by parliament last month. He said: "we have seen no evidence at all and as far as we know the FBI haven't either". He said he did not know if NoW employees or the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire took it upon themselves to do it.