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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9114105/James-Murdoch-resigns-from-News-International-as-firm-admits-papers-could-be-sold-off.html

News Corp shareholders step up bid to oust James Murdoch Shareholders already drafting resolutions ahead of AGM to call for James Murdoch to be removed from News Corp board By Dominic Rushe in New York guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 February 2012 14.28 EST Shareholders are planning to step up their campaign to oust James Murdoch from News Corp following his decision to quit the UK and return to New York. News Corp announced on Monday that Murdoch was giving up his position as executive chairman of News International – the British publishing division hit by the phone-hacking scandal – and returning to New York "to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates". Shareholders are already drafting resolutions ahead of this year's annual general meeting to step up pressure for change at the media firm. The deadline to file is May. "It's business as usual," said Julie Tanner, director of socially responsible investing at shareholder Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS). "This is a very minor step in the right direction. I have not seen any significant changes in governance policies or a code of ethics." CBIS led last year's shareholder revolt against the Murdochs at News Corp's AGM. That vote ended with 35% of shareholders voting against James Murdoch's re-election to the board. After subtracting the shares controlled by Rupert Murdoch, 67% of the vote went against James Murdoch. "Given these ongoing allegations, I expect the vote against will be even larger this year," she said. The Rev Seamus Finn, of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, who also voted against Rupert and James Murdoch and other senior executives at News Corp's annual general meeting last year, said: "This raises further concerns about the way this company is governed." "It is clear to us that there are too many conflicts of interest in the way this company is run." James Murdoch, once News Corp's heir apparent, is the highest profile executive at the company to lose his job amid a scandal that has led to more than 20 arrests and triggered the closure of the News of the World, News International's most profitable paper. "We are all grateful for James's leadership at News International and across Europe and Asia, where he has made lasting contributions to the group's strategy in paid digital content and its efforts to improve and enhance governance programs," Rupert Murdoch said in a statement. He said James would "continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations." But senior media executives in New York have dismissed the suggestion that James can continue to play a major role at the company while the phone-hacking scandal continues. One senior executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Murdoch's role within the company was becoming increasingly difficult. He said the idea of James Murdoch running any significant part of News Corp's US business was "ridiculous". "There's too much trouble hanging over his head. All this newspaper stuff just seems to get worse by the day. How can anyone expect him to fully commit to anything else? And anyone who works with him is going to be wondering how long he's going to be around. It would have been easier to let him go. Looks like Rupert is getting sentimental."

Murdoch Inquiry Covers Four UK Newspapers Published: Tuesday, 28 Feb 2012 | 2:11 PM ET By: Reuters http://www.cnbc.com/id/46558460 A massive email cache that a corporate cleanup team has assembled as part of its effort to cooperate with British police contains message traffic generated by journalists at all four British newspapers once published by Rupert Murdoch, sources familiar with the unit's work said. The cleanup team, known as the Management and Standards Committee (MSC) of Murdoch's US-based News Corp [NWSA 20.045 0.235 (+1.19%) ] , is investigating reporting practices across all Murdoch's current and former UK properties, said one of the sources familiar with the company's internal investigations. These include the now-defunct News of the World as well as The Sun, the Times and the Sunday Times, all of which still publish. An "investigation across all News International titles remains ongoing," the source said. From fragments of data that company officials allegedly tried to delete, the MSC and outside consultants managed to assemble a database containing an estimated 300 million emails covering roughly the last decade, the source said. A team of police investigators has set up shop in an office suite close to a separate suite in Murdoch's newspaper publishing campus occupied by MSC members and a battery of outside lawyers. However, the source familiar with its work says the MSC has worked out a set of procedures with the police that the company team believes constitutes an effective mechanism for protecting journalistic sources. According to the source, the procedure works this way: The police team embedded at Murdoch's complex in London's Wapping district provide the MSC with "search terms" which MSC representatives and their legal advisers then use to tap into the 300 million email database. If they find message traffic relevant to the search terms, the source said, before being handed over to police, that traffic is reviewed by MSC officials and lawyers from the London firm Linklaters to see if it contains information that should be redacted. This could include sensitive information covered by legal privilege or which would identify confidential sources. Only after a careful legal review, and the redaction of sensitive material based on the advice of lawyers, is the material from the data bank turned over to police investigators, said the source familiar with the procedure. Police have "no live access" to the underlying data pool, the source said. However, under the procedure they can ask follow-up questions after receiving censored data to seek additional information or searches. In public testimony on Monday before an inquiry into British reporting practices headed by High Court Judge Brian Leveson, Sue Akers, the deputy assistant commissioner of London police in charge of three parallel inquiries into potentially illegal reporting tactics, said that police had sought advice from prosecutors on how to investigate journalists and newspaper offices. Akers said that in unspecified instances where "there is an evidential base to request information, the MSC have provided it in unredacted format to enable police to identify the public official concerned." However, she added, the MSC is providing police with information in redacted form in connection with their more general investigation of cash payments. She said that the sources' names would remain redacted "until police are able to produce evidence that can justify identifying the source." She said that, initially, a police team assigned to Operation Elveden, which is specifically focused on questionable payments to police and other public officials, based on material supplied to it by Murdoch's News International, focused on journalists from the News of the World. Murdoch closed that newspaper last summer amid uproar over the alleged involvement of the paper's journalists in widespread voicemail hacking. More recently, Akers said, police expanded Operation Elveden to include journalists on The Sun, whose first Sunday edition was personally launched by Murdoch last weekend. As a result of information provided to police by the MSC, Operation Elveden inquiries led to the arrest of 10 Sun journalists since last November, including some of the paper's longest-serving and most senior employees. None of those arrested has been charged with violating any law. In her testimony, Akers stressed her investigation was not interested in petty dealings between journalists and sources, such as the buying of drinks or meals. She alleged that Operation Elveden had found evidence of a "network of corrupted officials" in the police, military, UK health service, government and prison service, and that there had been a "culture at The Sun of illegal payments" as well as systems in place to hide the identities of officials receiving money. She said that in one case, emails revealed that one unnamed person received payments totaling more than 80,000 British pounds. One of the journalists who has been arrested, Akers said, over several years received more than 150,000 pounds in cash to pay his sources, "a number of whom were public officials

Yes, federal grand juries are secret with the general exception that a witness before such a jury has the right to speak out publicly after giving testimony. But this seldom happens. You are correct also that a sealed indictment remains sealed until the person is arrested. In the case of Assange, based on the above press releases, it is quite likely that the Assange's lawyers at the Center for Constitutional Rights will argue that any sealed indictment of Assange is flawed because one or more Department of Justice officials previously discussed its contents with non-government persons at the private intelligence company, Stratfor, located in Austin, Texas. Public opinion in both in the U.S. and around the globe may now come to believe that the U.S. Dept. of Justice prosecution of Assange is an orchestrated witch-hunt and violates his basic constitutional rights. This latest turn of events puts the pressure on the U.K.'s highest court and the courts in Sweden not to appear to be mere pawns acting under the direction of the U.S. government in the criminal case trumped up against Assange. Ultimately the European Court for Human Rights may make the final decision on the prosecution of Assange and whether he can be extradited to the U.S. Meanwhile, who knows what Wikileaks may come up with in public disclosures of vital documents? Assange may yet make it as Time's Person of the Year.

James Murdoch resigns as News International chairman Murdoch remains News Corporation chief operating officer and keeps responsibility for BSkyB as he moves to New York By Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 February 2012 09.49 EST James Murdoch has stepped down as chairman of News International, the publisher of the Sun and Times, in an internal News Corporation reshuffle. Wednesday's move sees him give up responsibility for News Corp's crisis-hit British newspaper operation as he completes his relocation to New York. The man once seen as his father Rupert Murdoch's automatic heir at the top of News Corp retains existing responsibility for "global television", overseeing busineses including the company's 39% stake in BSkyB, Sky-branded pay-TV companies in Europe and Star in Asia – and only gains the opportunity to become involved with the company's US Fox television operation as he settles in across the Atlantic. James Murdoch's managerial move away from News International explains why he was not in London to help oversee the launch of the Sun's Sunday edition, which has been personally supervised by his father. Friends say he has been eager to leave the UK and drop responsibility for the Wapping newspapers for several months as the phone hacking scandal enveloped the London outpost of the organisation. He has faced repeated questions over what he knew about the extent of phone-hacking at the News of the World. Although the hacking is known to have gone on until 2006, before Murdoch arrived, he presided over a period in 2009 and 2010 where News International denied again and again that phone-hacking was more widespread than the activities of a "single rogue" reporter. News International, meanwhile, becomes the only newspaper unit of the company not to report directly to a man named Murdoch. News International chief executive Tom Mockridge will now report to Chase Carey, the US television executive who is the company's number two, its president and chief operating officer. By contrast those who run Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal publisher, and News Ltd, the Australian newspaper operation, both report directly to Rupert Murdoch. James Murdoch took up the job overseeing News International in December 2007, when he joined News Corp from BSkyB, where he had been chief executive. At the time he also became the chief executive for News Corporation Europe and Asia, responsibilities which he retains. The company said in a statement: "News Corporation today announced that, following his relocation to the company's headquarters in New York, James Murdoch, deputy chief operating officer, has relinquished his position as executive chairman of News International, its UK publishing unit. "Tom Mockridge, chief executive officer of News International, will continue in his post and will report to News Corporation president and COO Chase Carey." Rupert Murdoch praised his son's four year stewardship of News Corp's international businesses from London. "We are all grateful for James' leadership at News International and across Europe and Asia, where he has made lasting contributions to the group's strategy in paid digital content and its efforts to improve and enhance governance programs," he said. "He has demonstrated leadership and continues to create great value at Star TV, Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia, and BSkyB. Now that he has moved to New York, James will continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations." James Murdoch said: "I deeply appreciate the dedication of my many talented colleagues at News International who work tirelessly to inform the public and am confident about the tremendous momentum we have achieved under the leadership of my father and Tom Mockridge. "With the successful launch of the Sun on Sunday and new business practices in place across all titles, News International is now in a strong position to build on its successes in the future. As deputy chief operating officer, I look forward to expanding my commitment to News Corporation's international television businesses and other key initiatives across the company."

Poster's note: Is James Murdoch's resignation a prelude to his criminal prosecution? ___________________________________________ James Murdoch steps down at NI The Independent Wednesday, 29 February 2012 James Murdoch is to step down as executive chairman of News International, it was announced today. Parent company News Corporation said in a statement the move would allow him to focus on expanding the company's international TV businesses. Mr Murdoch has faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the News of the World phone hacking scandal. The company said Mr Murdoch, who is its deputy chief operating officer, was stepping down from the role in NI, which is its UK publishing unit, following his relocation to the company's headquarters in New York. His father Rupert Murdoch, who is News Corporation's chairman and chief executive officer, said: "We are all grateful for James' leadership at News International and across Europe and Asia, where he has made lasting contributions to the group's strategy in paid digital content and its efforts to improve and enhance governance programmes. "He has demonstrated leadership and continues to create great value at Star TV, Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia, and BSkyB. "Now that he has moved to New York, James will continue to assume a variety of essential corporate leadership mandates, with particular focus on important pay-TV businesses and broader international operations." Mr Murdoch junior said: "I deeply appreciate the dedication of my many talented colleagues at News International who work tirelessly to inform the public and am confident about the tremendous momentum we have achieved under the leadership of my father and Tom Mockridge. "With the successful launch of The Sun on Sunday and new business practices in place across all titles, News International is now in a strong position to build on its successes in the future. "As Deputy Chief Operating Officer, I look forward to expanding my commitment to News Corporation's international television businesses and other key initiatives across the Company." Mr Mockridge was appointed chief executive officer of News International last summer after former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks was forced to resign in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. Mr Murdoch found himself at the centre of the hacking scandal after it was claimed he had been told that phone-hacking was more widespread at the News of the World than was originally admitted. He had previously told the Commons Culture Committee he was not aware of the notorious "For Neville" document, which blew apart the company's stance that hacking was the fault of a single rogue reporter - former royal correspondent Clive Goodman, who was paying private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to carry it out. But Tom Crone, former legal chief of NoW publisher News Group Newspapers told MPs he was "certain" he told Mr Murdoch Jr about the now-notorious email. Labour MP Chris Bryant, who received a £30,000 settlement after having his phone hacked by the News of the World, said: "After all we've heard, James Murdoch's resignation is long overdue. "On his watch, we have seen the biggest corporate corruption scandal since 1720 and historic titles like The Sun have been brought into disrepute. "It is time he also left BSkyB. He is not a fit and proper person." James Murdoch's close involvement, alongside father Rupert, in the family's media empire was never more visible than during the pair's joint select committee appearance last July. But it was also clear who was in charge, as the media mogul at one point silenced his son with a mere touch on the arm to declare: "I would just like to say one sentence. This is the most humble day of my life."

CCR Condemns Reported Sealed Indictment Against WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Leak of Private Intelligence Firm Documents Confirm Existence of Secret Indictment by Secret Grand Jury press@ccrjustice.org February 28, 2012, New York – Leaks published today from Stratfor, a private intelligence corporation, indicate the United States Department of Justice has issued a secret, sealed indictment against Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. In response, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement: “A sealed indictment against Julian Assange would underscore the very thing Wikileaks has been fighting against: abuses the government commits in an environment of secrecy and expansive, reflexive calls for "national security." From the shocking, inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning, to secret grand jury proceedings, to Stratfor's apparent knowledge of the existence of a sealed indictment before either Mr. Assange or the American public had such knowledge, the government's conduct in this case reveals why more transparency, not more secrecy, is essential. This would also mark perhaps the first time a journalist has been prosecuted for allegedly receiving and publishing “classified” documents. Indicting Julian Assange would represent a dramatic assault on the First Amendment, journalists, and the public's right to know. Rather than promoting transparency as promised, the Obama administration has aggressively pursued whistleblowers and dissenters, launching Espionage Act prosecutions twice as many times as all previous administrations in the last century combined. Attorney General Eric Holder should rethink this dangerous course. Instead of pursuing Julian Assange, Mr. Holder should investigate the serious crimes and abuse of government authority exposed by Wikileaks. The Center for Constitutional Rights legally represents Wikileaks and Mr. Assange in the Bradley Manning hearings. Read the WikiLeaks statement here: http://wikileaks.org/Stratfor-Emails-US-Has-Issued.html The Center for Constitutional Rights is dedicated to advancing and protecting the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Founded in 1966 by attorneys who represented civil rights movements in the South, CCR is a non-profit legal and educational organization committed to the creative use of law as a positive force for social change.

PRESS RELEASE - STRATFOR EMAILS: US HAS ISSUED SEALED INDICTMENT AGAINST JULIAN ASSANGE Tuesday 28th February 2012 18:30 GMT http://wikileaks.org/Stratfor-Emails-US-Has-Issued.html Confidential emails obtained from the US private intelligence firm Stratfor show that the United States Government has had a secret indictment against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for more than 12 months. Fred Burton, Stratfor’s Vice-President for Counterterrorism and Corporate Security, is a former Deputy Chief of the Department of State’s (DoS) counterterrorism division for the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). In early 2011, Burton revealed in internal Stratfor correspondence that a secret Grand Jury had already issued a sealed indictment for Assange: "Not for Pub — We have a sealed indictment on Assange. Pls protect." (375123) According to Burton: "Assange is going to make a nice bride in prison. Screw the terrorist. He’ll be eating cat food forever." (1056988) A few weeks earlier, following Julian Assange’s release from a London jail, where he had been remanded as a result of a Swedish prosecutor’s arrest warrant, Fred Burton told SkyNews: "extradition [to the US is] more and more likely". (373862). Emails from Fred Burton reveal that the US Government employs the same counterterrorism strategy against Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as against Al Qaeda: "Take down the money. Go after his infrastructure. The tools we are using to nail and de-construct Wiki are the same tools used to dismantle and track aQ [Al Qaeda]. Thank Cheney & 43 [former US President George W. Bush]. Big Brother owns his liberal terrorist arse." (1067796) Ten days after the CIA reportedly assassinated Osama bin Laden, Burton writes in an email sent to Stratfor’s "Secure" mailing list that he "can get access to the materials seized from the OBL [Osama bin Laden] safe house." (1660854) Burton states: "Ferreting out [Julian Assange’s] confederates is also key. Find out what other disgruntled rogues inside the tent or outside [sic]. Pile on. Move him from country to country to face various charges for the next 25 years. But, seize everything he and his family own, to include every person linked to Wiki." (1056763) Along with the FBI, the Diplomatic Security Service and the Department of Defense (DoD) form a multi-agency US Government outfit seeking to criminally indict and prosecute WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. According to the Department of State, the DSS handles the investigation of all leads that involve the DoS and assists the DoD in forensic analysis of hard drives seized by the US Government in its ongoing criminal investigation. Burton also says he "would pursue [c]onspiracy and [p]olitical [t]errorism charges and declassify the death of a source someone which [he] could link to Wiki" (1074383). Burton’s strategy is to: "ankrupt the arsehole first," Burton states, "ruin his life. Give him 7-12 yrs for conspiracy." (1057220) WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said: "For over a year now, the US Attorny General Eric Holder has been conducting a "secret" Grand Jury investigation into WikiLeaks. This neo-McCarthyist witch hunt against WikiLeaks may be Mr Holder’s defining legacy. Any student of American history knows that secret justice is no justice at all. Justice must be seen to be done. Legitimate authority arises out of the informed consent of the governed, not Eric Holder’s press secretary. Secret Grand Juries with secret indictments are apparently Eric Holder’s preferred method of dealing with publishers who hold his administration to account. Eric Holder has betrayed the legacy of Madison and Jefferson. He should drop the case or resign. Should he continue, however, the Obama administration may not — Democrats and Republicans alike believe in the right to tell the truth." As early as June 2010, after the release of the Collateral Murder video but prior to the Afghan War Diaries release, the emails talk of a sealed indictment. In an email conversation between Shane Harris, a National Security journalist, and Burton, Harris is surprised that Assange was reporteded to be attending a Las Vegas Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) conference. Burton remarks: "As a foreign national, we could revoke [Julian Assange’s] travel status and deport. Could also be taken into custody as a material witness. We COULD have a sealed indictment and lock him up. Depends upon how far along the military case is" (391504). Julian Assange cancelled his appearance at the IRE conference due to security concerns. In another email to Stephen Feldhaus, Stratfor legal counsel, about Ronald Kessler, a "pro-FBI journalist", Burton remarks: “I look forward to Manning and Assange facing a bajillion-thousand counts [of espionage]." (1035283) In July 2010 alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning was moved from Camp Arifjan, Kuwait to the Quantico Brig in the Military District of Washington at the request of Maj. Gen. Terry Wolff, then Commanding General of the 1st Armored Division/US Division – Center in Iraq. Wolff requested Manning’s move, the Pentagon reported, "due to a potentially lengthy pre-trial confinement because of the complexity of the charges and an ongoing investigation.” Three days before Manning arrived at Quantico Brig, Burton wrote to George Friedman, Stratfor CEO and founder: “We probably asked the ASIS [Australian Secret Intelligence Service] to monitor Wiki coms and email, after the soldier from Potomac was nabbed. So, it’s reasonable to assume we probably already know who has done it. The delay could be figuring out how to declassify and use the Aussie intel on Wiki... The owner [Julian Assange] is a peacenik. He needs his head dunked in a full toilet bowl at Gitmo.” (402168) The GI Files: http://wikileaks.org/the-gifiles.html Please donate: http://shop.wikileaks.org/donate WHO TO GO TO FOR COMMENT WikiLeaks – Kristinn Hrafnsson, Official WikiLeaks representative: +35 4821 7121 Julian Burnside, Australian barrister and Human Rights expert: +61 412 157 230 or +61 03 9225 7488, burnside@vicbar.com.au Jennifer Robinson, Legal adviser in Australia and available for interviews now: +61423871773 Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR): +1 2126146449, press@ccrjustice.org Frank La Rue, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Opinion and Expression +502 23 680-021 Scott Ludlam, Australian Senator: +61 6277 3467 Geoffrey Robertson, Australian-born Human Rights barrister, academic, author: +44 020 7404 1313, g.robertson@doughtystreet.co.uk Glenn Greenwald (salon.com), Columnist/blogger/Constitutional lawyer: +1 (646) 400-5600, ggreenwald@salon.com Ben Wizner, Litigation Director at ACLU’s National Security Project: +1 (212) 519 7860, bwizner@aclu.org Oliver Spencer, Article 19, Global Campaign for Free Expression: +44 (0)20 7324 2517 John Perry Barlow, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): +1 415 436 9333 and +1 202 797 9009, barlow@eff.org Cindy Cohn, Legal Director, Electronic Frontier Foundation: +1 415 436 9333 x108, cindy@eff.org Tala Dowlatshahi, Reporters without Borders (US): +1 917-239-0653

http://www.juancole.com/2012/02/top-ten-differences-between-rick-santorum-and-jfk.html

Phone-hacking will be the single largest corporate corruption case for 250 years because 'cover up' went up 'to the very highest levels, says MP Chris Bryant sensationally claimed the 'cover-up' extended to James Murdoch, boss of News Corporation Calls for U.S. authorities to investigate directors Claimed senior NI figures ordered the 'mass destruction of evidence' He says 486 lies have been told to Parliament over phone-hacking Glenn Mulcaire 'provided daily transcripts of hacked voicemail messages', court papers allege Daily Mail By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 8:20 PM on 28th February 2012 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107703/MP-claims-phone-hacking-single-largest-corporate-case-250-years-cover-went-highest-levels.html#ixzz1ni7km1oz Phone-hacking will be the single largest corporate corruption case for 250 years and the 'cover up' went up 'to the very highest levels', a senior Labour MP sensationally claimed today. Speaking at a private members' debate held in Westminster Hall, Chris Bryant claimed the scandal at News International extended to executives and chairman James Murdoch. He said that senior figures 'ordered - we know this for sure - the mass destruction of evidence'. Mr Bryant claimed: 'There was a major cover-up at News International which stretched right up to the very highest levels of the company, as we know even up to James Murdoch. 'And that, in the end, I suspect, will prove to have been the biggest crime.' The politician made his dramatic claims as court papers alleged that private investigator Glenn Mulcaire provided the News of the World with daily transcripts of hacked messages. The papers said voicemail interception was approved by at least two executives, the Daily Telegraph reported. Three senior figures figures on the paper were in frequent contact with Mulcaire, it is claimed. The documents say he entered into a conspiracy with executives and 'agreed to provide daily transcripts of voicemail messages to [NGN] journalists.' More...Crimewatch presenter 'was spied on by News of the World because of paper's links to suspects in murder case' Police guilty of 'unforgivable' failure to investigate extent of phone hacking says Lib Dem MP outed by The Sun after it caught him phoning gay chat line Rebekah Brooks was loaned a HORSE by Scotland Yard sparking fresh questions over just how close the Met was with Murdoch empire As the hacking controversy deepened today, Mr Bryant insisted U.S. authorities had a duty to investigate because members of the News Corp board, which is based in America, had failed to prevent staff paying off public officials despite 'incontrovertible evidence'. Mr Bryant claimed Parliament has been told 486 lies about the phone-hacking affair, by News International, police and other organisations. He also said he was 'absolutely sure' that the problems seen at News International 'may well have been replicated' at other newspapers. Mr Bryant sensationally claimed there was a major cover-up at News International which stretched right up to James Murdoch, executive and chairman, pictured, at the Commons Culture Committee Mr Bryant, the Rhondda MP, received £30,000 in compensation from News International last month after his phone was hacked. He said News Corporation directors were at fault for not stopping the attempt to disguise what was going on within the company. He said: 'Senior figures at News International ordered - we know this for sure - the mass destruction of evidence. 'The clear, incontrovertible evidence of corrupt payments to police, which News International had garnered together, they gave to lawyers and squirrelled away and only revealed to the public very recently - I believe that aspect is one of the things that the authorities in the United States of America should be investigating because I don't believe that a single member of the board of directors of News Corp took their responsibilities in this regard seriously enough to prevent the payment of corrupt officials.' Mr Bryant said police apparently told Rebekah Brooks about the original phone hacking investigation As the Labour politician spoke out, Mr Justice Vos ordered that previously redacted court documents submitted for a phone-hacking case in the High Court should be released. The papers revealed the victims wanted News Group Newspapers, the publishers of the NotW to admit that every one of the 6,000 people named in Mulcaire's notebook was a hacking victim. Mulcaire and Clive Goodman were both jailed in 2007 after hacking the phones of senior members of the royal household. Mulcaire has not accepted any of the allegations contained in the court documents - and was opposed to them being released today. Today Mr Bryant also pointed to the 'shocking' revelation that police officers apparently gave Rebekah Brooks details about the original phone-hacking investigation. He claimed this shows that 'the police effectively became a partly-owned subsidiary of News International'. Earlier this week it emerged Scotland Yard told Mrs Brooks in 2006 that there were up to 110 victims of phone hacking at the NotW. Police had seemed to give Ms Brooks, then editor of The Sun, an incredibly detailed briefing about their investigation into the scandal within weeks of the arrest of News of the World royal editor Goodman and private detective Glenn Mulcaire for phone hacking. Mr Bryant said: 'This is like the FBI going to Don Corleone and telling him that he's got a bit of information on what his family has been up to.' The explosive claims came from an email between Tom Crone, head of legal at the News of the World and Andy Coulson, the paper's then editor at 10.34am on September 15, 2006. In addition, Mr Bryant claimed: 'People right at the top of the News of the World knew in 2006 exactly what had gone on.' Mr Bryant used his speech to call for a powerful new media watchdog to be set up in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal - and not just the Press Complaints Commission 'dressed up in a new fur coat'. Communications minister Ed Vaizey said he did not want to pre-judge the findings of the Leveson Inquiry but added it was 'no secret' the Government favoured independent regulation. He said: 'This independence from state intervention is fundamental to our democratic way of life.' Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2107703/MP-claims-phone-hacking-single-largest-corporate-case-250-years-cover-went-highest-levels.html#ixzz1ni7km1oz

Number 10 silent on whether David Cameron used Rebekah Brooks' police horse Mrs Brooks kept the horse at her home in the Cotswolds for two years before giving it back to the Metropolitan Police in 2010 The Telegraph 7:01PM GMT 28 Feb 2012 Downing Street has refused to disclose whether David Cameron used the police horse lent to Rebekah Brooks on riding trips together. The Prime Minister is long rumoured to have spent time horse-riding with Mrs Brooks, the ex-News International boss, who stepped down over the News of the World’s phone-hacking scandal. Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks were both part of the so-called Chipping Norton set of powerful public figures that met regularly at private gatherings until the phone-hacking scandal broke. She denies the outings ever took place, although both are members of the local Heythrop Hunt, which is chaired by her husband, Charlie Brooks, the racehorse trainer. Last night, a spokesman for the Prime Minister could not say whether he had ever taken out the horse loaned to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan Police between 2008 and 2010. Asked whether Mr Cameron ever rode the police horse, his official spokesman replied: "Um, that is not something that I keep tabs on, which horse the Prime Minister is riding." One of the people claiming Mr Cameron went riding with Mrs Brooks was former News of the World journalist Paul McMullan, who was recorded in an undercover investigation by the New Statesman. He said: “Cameron went horse riding regularly with Rebekah. I know, because as well as doorstepping celebrities, I've also doorstepped my ex-boss by hiding in the bushes, waiting for her to come past with Cameron on a horse... before the election to show that - you know - Murdoch was backing Cameron.” Since the phone-hacking scandal broke, the Prime Minister has sought to distance himself from the Chipping Norton group. Following the furore, he was faced with accusations of being too close to executives from News International, the newspaper publisher controlled by Rupert Murdoch. Mr Cameron has also run into trouble over his friendship with Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter, and member of the Chipping Norton set, in recent months. The Prime Minister had to disown his friend’s “silly” outburst on The One Show when Mr Clarkson said that public sector workers who had taken part in the national strike should be shot. He was subsequently embarrassed by Mr Clarkson’s crude jokes about India in an episode of Top Gear, resulting in a complaint to the BBC from the country’s High Commission over its lack of cultural sensitivity.

Phone hacking: 54 MPs and peers in Glenn Mulcaire notebooks The Telegraph 4:32PM GMT 28 Feb 2012 Notebooks seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator jailed for phone hacking, contain details of 54 current and former MPs and peers, the detective leading the investigation has disclosed. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers said 10 peers and 44 current and former MPs had been identified in material analysed to date by officers from Operation Weeting, Scotland Yard's inquiry into phone hacking. The number could rise further as the investigation continues, she added. Of the 54 names, a total of 18 - four peers and 14 current and former MPs - had been identified as "likely victims of phone hacking". All of them have been contacted by Scotland Yard. They will include MPs who have already received damages settlements from News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the News of the World, such as Lord Prescott, Chris Bryant and Simon Hughes. Ms Akers disclosed the information in response to a request from the parliamentary culture, media and sport committee, which has been conducting its own inquiry into hacking and other illegal practices by the media. The committee had originally asked for the names of all MPs and peers contained in Mulcaire's notebooks, but Ms Akers said the Metropolitan Police was "unable" to provide that information. To date, seven serving and former MPs have received damages from News Group Newspapers, the publisher of the News of the World. They include Denis MacShane, Claire Ward, Mark Oaten and George Galloway. Almost 6,000 names appear in notebooks seized from Mulcaire in 2006, when he and the then News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman were arrested, but the Met says that only 829 of those are "likely" to have been victims of hacking. The committee also published a letter from James Murdoch, the chief executive of News International, who wrote to the committee last week giving details of how the company has tightened its corporate governance in the wake of the hacking scandal. He said any editor whose journalists want to use a private investigator must now be given the prior approval of the chief executive, and that NI has instigated an anti-bribery policy to comply with the 2010 Bribery Act. A new "payment policy" to guide staff on when they can make payments for stories has also been circulated, he said, while the company's record retention practices are being reviewed to make sure they are "clear and robust". Evidence of a wide-ranging cover-up of the hacking scandal by News Group Newspapers has emerged in recent months, as managers ordered the deletion of any emails that might incriminate the company in future legal action.

Leveson inquiry: NoW accused of colluding with murder suspects Former Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames also claims Rebekah Brooks covered up why her family were targeted By John Plunkett and David Leigh guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 February 2012 10.49 EST When a senior detective re-opened a notorious murder inquiry, the suspects were able to intimidate his wife and family with the help of an executive at the News of the World, the Leveson inquiry has been told. Making one of the gravest Leveson allegations so far, former Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames, the then wife of Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook, broke down in tears as she accused the paper's then editor Rebekah Brooks of covering up the real reason why her family were targeted. The intimidation was carried out after an offer of a £50,000 reward on Hames's Crimewatch programme for fresh information on the murder of Daniel Morgan, a partner in a private detective agency. Hames said: "These events left me distressed, anxious and needing counselling and contributed to the breakdown of my marriage." Leveson told her she did not have to continue. But having recovered her composure, Hames, a former detective herself who said she had loved her job, told the inquiry: "No one from any walk of life should have to put up with it. I would hate to think of anyone having to go through what we have had 10 years of." She alleged that former NoW executive Alex Marunchak colluded with suspects who ran the NoW's private detective operations. They put the family under surveillance and targeted their phones for hacking. Brooks, as editor, failed to act when confronted with the evidence in 2003, Hames said, and Marunchak was even subsequently promoted. After the broadcast, Cook got official intelligence that the suspects planned "to make life difficult for him", and the programme was sent an email suggesting Hames was having an affair with a senior detective. Two vans stationed outside their house were eventually traced back to the News of the World. Police at Scotland Yard did little to protect the couple. Instead, the head of PR at the Met, Dick Fedorcio, spoke to Brooks, who made the "absolutely pathetic" claim that the tabloid had targeted couple because of the alleged affair. "We had by then been married for four years, had been together for 11 years and had two children," Hames said. In a meeting with her husband, she said Brooks "repeated the unconvincing explanation that the News of the World believed we were having an affair". Hames said: "I believe that the real reason for the NoW placing us under surveillance was that suspects in the Daniel Morgan murder inquiry were using their association with a powerful and well-resourced newspaper to try to intimidate us and so attempt to subvert the investigation." She told the inquiry that it was impossible not to conclude that there had been "collusion between people at the News of the World and people who were suspected of killing Daniel Morgan". Private investigator Jonathan Rees, said to have earned £150,000 a year from the News of the World for supplying illegally obtained information, was eventually accused of Morgan's murder but the trial collapsed and he was cleared last March.

Phone hacking: six News of the World staff instructed Mulcaire, papers allege Court documents submitted on behalf of hacking victims allege 'conspiracy' between private investigator and senior executives By Lisa O'Carroll and David Leigh guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 February 2012 07.03 EST Six journalists at the News of the World were involved in instructing private investigator Glenn Mulcaire to hack phones of celebrities and others, it has been alleged in documents released by the high court to the Guardian. Paperwork submitted on behalf of phone-hacking victims by lawyers shed new light on the alleged extent of knowledge within the newspaper about the activities of Mulcaire, the £2,000-a-week investigator at the centre of the scandal. It has been alleged in these court documents that there was "a conspiracy" between Mulcaire and "senior executives" including "Clive Goodman" and five other journalists, known as A, B, C, D, and E, whereby he would obtain information on their behalf using "electronic intelligence and eavesdropping". Up until now only one News of the World journalist, the former royal editor Clive Goodman, has been charged and sentenced to prison in relation to phone-hacking offences. In the latest Weeting investigation other journalists from the News of the World have since been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking. The claim submitted on behalf of phone-hacking victims also allege that Mulcaire was on a contract with the paper between 2001 and 2006 worth up to £105,000 a year. Under the initial contract, signed on September 2001, the victims allege, Mulcaire was paid £1,770 a week, or £92,000 a year, for services provided by a company he controlled, called Euro Research and Information Services. His fees were allegedly increased in 2003 when Mulcaire asked for an extra £250 a week to extend his services beyond 9am to 5pm and to cover "emergency calls outside these hours". In February 2005, a separate contract was allegedly signed to pay Mulcaire (in the name of Paul Williams) £7,000 for a story about the Professional Footballers' Association boss Gordon Taylor, who subsequently won a £425,000 claim for phone hacking from News International. In July that year, a fresh contract between Mulcaire and News of the World was drawn up, this time in the name of Nine Consultancy Limited. Under this agreement it is claimed the private investigator was paid £2,019 a week, or £104,988 a year. The documents detailing the alleged contracts were obtained by the Guardian and were released in redacted form last week. Some of these redactions have now been removed following a further hearing at the high court on Monday. The unredacted passages in the documents submitted in the name of "voicemail claimant" for the purpose of a generic trial, allege that Mulcaire also agreed to "provide daily transcripts of voicemail messages" to News of the World journalists. Last week it emerged that News International took active steps to delete and prepare to delete the publisher's email archives as phone-hacking allegations and lawsuits against the owner of the News of the World mounted in 2009 and developed in 2010. According to court documents filed by victims of hacking, the publisher allegedly produced an email deletion policy in November 2009 whose aim was to "eliminate in a consistent manner" emails "that could be unhelpful in the context of future litigation". Crime reporters at the News of the World in the past were explicitly expected to pay police officers, one of them has publicly disclosed for the first time. Jeff Edwards told the BBC that when he refused to do so, he was transferred out of his job. Edwards, who later became a long-serving crime reporter for the Daily Mirror, told BBC Newsnight: "Between 1980 and 1985 I was employed at the News of the World as their crime correspondent and I was actually removed from my post because of my complete reluctance and refusal to pay police officers." He said he was explicitly told that was the reason: "I was removed from that post ... Shortly after that I got another job somewhere else." Edwards said: "There was always, I thought at the NoW, a deeply rooted culture of underhandedness, of corrupt practice. I had come in from London evening newspapers where there was no history, no tradition of that sort of behaviour. I built my reputation on doing the job transparently, honestly, by being an honest broker. I knew to an extent what I was entering and I was hoping to be able to change things but that wasn't the case at all." Edwards did not say who had ordered him to be transferred or who asked him to pay police.

Met failed to tell MP of extent of phone hacking commissioning, inquiry hears Simon Hughes says police had evidence seeming to indicate 'at least three' NoW staff asked Mulcaire to access his voicemail By Lisa O'Carroll guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 February 2012 09.30 EST Scotland Yard failed to tell a senior Liberal Democrat MP for five years that police had evidence in their possession that appeared to indicate that "at least three" News of the World journalists were involved in commissioning the hacking of his phones by a private investigator. Notes seized by the Metropolitan police from the home of Glenn Mulcaire in 2006 contained detailed information about Simon Hughes's telephone numbers and the names of three journalists in the margins of the notes, referring to reporters who are thought to have commissioned the investigator's hacking work. However, giving evidence to the Leveson inquiry, Hughes said he was never shown any of Mulcaire's notes about him when he was told by police his phone messages had been intercepted in October 2006. He was only shown the notes by police at a meeting on May 25 2011, and was "shocked" at the level of personal detail they contained. Back in 2006, the police were preparing a case against the News of the World's royal editor Clive Goodman and Mulcaire, both of whom were sentenced to jail for phone hacking-related offences in January 2007. "I find it impossible to find a good explanation for why that happened," said Hughes who said there had been "significant failure" on the part of the police. When Hughes asked detectives in 2006 whether other journalists were involved in phone hacking, he was told that the investigation was not proceeding against anybody else. The MP added in his written statement: "I suspect that the police had shut down this investigation, much to the delight of News Group (publishers of the News of the World), and ignored evidence of long-standing and widespread criminality. I do not know of any good or persuasive reason why this should be, and it makes me extremely suspicious." Hughes was one of a group of five non-royal phone-hacking victims to be selected to support the police case in the Mulcaire and Goodman trial but said it wasn't until he was approached by police last year that he discovered the extent of evidence against the News of the World. Others included PR man Max Clifford and Gordon Taylor, chief of the Professional Footballers' Association. "There was no prosecution against anybody other than Clive Goodman, and Clive Goodman only because of his work with the royal family, whereas there was a whole range of people clearly acting in concert, either directly or indirectly, illegally, and they were not touched," he said. Hughes told Leveson he was "surprised and disappointed" that only two people were taken to court not just because there were three people allegedly involved in ordering phone hacking apart from Clive Goodman, but that there was also evidence from Mulcaire's notes that there were hundreds of victims outside the handful the police were using in the trial in 2006. "Clearly employees were engaged, and therefore the whole panoply of other people, who it now appears had their voicemails hacked on the instructions of people in News of the World, were not in any way used as evidence against the employees," he added. Hughes also told Leveson that Goodman and Mulcaire were tried on the basis that the private investigator had received £12,300 for his services. But it now appears the police had evidence that Mulcaire could have received up to £1m. This figure emerged at the Leveson inquiry on Monday and is far higher than previous information on Mulcaire's earnings from his alleged phone hacking and blagging activities. It emerged last week from evidence disclosed after an application from the Guardian that Mulcaire earned about £100,000 a year between 2001 and 2006. Today Hughes disclosed a new table of alleged payments to Mulcaire which show he may have earned anything from £775,786 to £849,470 from News International between 1999 and 2007 – far more than was disclosed to the court at the time of Mulcaire's trial. "The court sentenced Goodman and Mulcaire on the basis that £12,300 was the known transaction payment. It is clear from here and clear, as counsel knows, from other evidence, that there was at least £500,000 of certain payment by News of the World to Mulcaire," Hughes told Leveson. The Lib Dem MP said Mulcaire's notebooks showed that the News of the World had tried to stand up stories

Sun established 'network of corrupted officials', Sue Akers tells Leveson Police officer leading investigation into bribery and hacking at News International tells inquiry of 'culture of illegal payments' By Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 February 2012 16.13 EST Article history Rupert Murdoch's flagship tabloid, the Sun, established a "network of corrupted officials" and created a "culture of illegal payments", the police officer leading the investigation into bribery and hacking at News International has alleged. On a day of dramatic developments surrounding the investigations into the tycoon's newspapers, Sue Akers, the deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, told the Leveson inquiry into press standards there had been "multiple payments" by the Sun to public officials of thousands of pounds, and one individual received £80,000 in alleged corrupt payments over a number of years. One Sun journalist drew more than £150,000 over the years to pay sources. Akers's intervention – a day after the Sun launched a Sunday edition – was designed to rebut criticism of her investigation by Sun veterans, unhappy that 10 reporters and executives from the tabloid had been arrested since last November. She said Sun reporters largely published "salacious gossip" on the back of the information received. The cases her team were investigating were not ones involving the "odd drink or meal" with public officials, but regular payments using an internal system designed to hide the identity of those allegedly receiving money illegally. In other developments: • The Leveson inquiry was also told of an internal News International email that showed how much Andy Coulson and Rebekah Brooks were told about News of the World phone hacking in 2006, which contrasted with public statements of ignorance made by both former editors of the Sunday tabloid subsequently. • Charlotte Church, the singer, agreed a £600,000 settlement from News International for phone hacking, including £300,000 in costs. • It emerged that more than 200 further alleged victims of phone hacking, ranging from former boxer Chris Eubank to the Ukip leader, Nigel Farage, are making claims against News International. • Lord Justice Leveson took aim at Michael Gove, the education secretary and former Times journalist, who had said that the inquiry, launched by David Cameron last summer, was having a "chilling effect" on Fleet Street. The judge said that he believed in freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but added that journalism must obey the rule of law and act in the public interest. Murdoch himself is understood to have studied Akers's incendiary testimony, and issued a short statement a couple of hours afterwards. He said: "As I've made very clear, we have vowed to do everything we can to get to the bottom of prior wrongdoings in order to set us on the right path for the future. That process is well underway. The practices Sue Akers described at the Leveson inquiry are ones of the past, and no longer exist at the Sun. We have already emerged a stronger company." News International insiders also said the Sun had tightened up its system for cash payments last summer, with any such payments now having to be signed off by the title's editor, Dominic Mohan. Murdoch was otherwise in a buoyant mood, tweeting about the Sun on Sunday's debut sales. "Amazing! The Sun confirmed sale of 3,260,000 copies yesterday," he wrote, as buyers ignored the corruption allegations to pick up the newspaper that immediately became the market leader on Sunday. Sales of rival red top titles slumped by between 15% and 30%, with the nearest challenger, the Sunday Mirror, down to 1.3m from a January average of 1.75m. Akers was the first witness in the second part of the Leveson inquiry, which aims to examine the relationship between the press and the police. Earlier in the morning, Robert Jay QC, counsel to the inquiry, read out an email dated September 2006 – five weeks after the Sunday tabloid's royal editor Clive Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, had been arrested on hacking charges – which detailed how much Brooks and Coulson were told about phone hacking. Brooks was then editor of the Sun and she had been editor of the News of the World. Coulson was editor of the News of the World at that time and was later David Cameron's director of communications in No 10. The note was written by Tom Crone, the former chief lawyer at the Sun and the News of the World, and was sent to Coulson, based on information received from the police by Brooks. Crone warned Coulson that the police had Goodman and Mulcaire "bang to rights" on illegally intercepting voicemails of Buckingham Palace staff – and that the police had discovered a list of "100-110 victims" on the basis of evidence seized from Mulcaire's home. Coulson was also told police had found records of payments to Mulcaire from News International worth over £1m. Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty in November 2006 and were jailed in January 2007, at which time Coulson resigned his editorship, four months after the Crone email. At that time Coulson said that while he knew nothing of hacking he took "ultimate responsibility" for what had happened. He used a similar formula in 2009 when he was working for the Conservatives, telling a parliamentary committee: "I have never condoned the use of phone hacking and nor do I have any recollection of incidences where phone hacking took place ... I took full responsibility at the time for what happened but without my knowledge and resigned." Brooks also repeatedly denied that she, or anybody within News International, knew about the extent of phone hacking at the News of the World in the years after the Goodman and Mulcaire convictions. Responding to the first reports by the Guardian in July 2009 that hacking was more widespread than the activities of a single "rogue reporter", she wrote to the Commons culture committee to say: "The Guardian coverage has, we believe, substantially and likely deliberately misled the British public."

News Corp: threat of US legal action raised in light of 'illegal payment' claim Fresh allegations increase likelihood of News Corp being prosecuted under Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, experts say By Dominic Rushe in New York guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 February 2012 14.46 EST Fresh allegations of a "culture of illegal payments" at the Sun newspaper have significantly increased the likelihood that US authorities will prosecute News Corp, according to legal experts. US authorities are considering bringing action against Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, the Sun's parent company, under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), legislation that allows officials to go after US firms alleged to have bribed foreign officials. If found guilty, News Corp faces a possible court case and hundreds of millions in fines. This week, Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers told the Leveson inquiry, which is inquiring into the state of the British press following the phone-hacking scandal, that there was a "culture of illegal payments" at the Sun to a "network of corrupted officials". The Sun and its former sister paper the News of the World are owned by News International, a wholly owned subsidiary of News Corp, the US media gaint that owns Fox, the Wall Street Journal and a controlling stake in Sky, among other assets. "This is obviously a very significant development with regards to the likelihood of a US prosecution," said Mark MacDougall, partner in the Washington office of the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and a former federal prosecutor. "If the British authorities are articulating a pattern, a defined scheme, to bribe officials, that is a very big deal." The latest allegations significantly increase the likelihood of an FCPA action, said Mike Koehler, professor of business law at Butler University and author of the FCPA Professor blog. "Last July, when we first started talking about this, there was one newspaper, the News of The World, and one category of foreign official, the police. Now we have another newspaper and a much broader category of foreign officials," said Koehler. "The evidence seems to suggest that there was a recognition that these payments may have been illegal and the notion that there were attempts to disguise the nature of these payments," said Koehler. These elements would fall under the remit of the FCPA. The original investigation centered on payment to police officers, and there had been some argument that the police did not fit the FCPA's definition of "foreign government officials". Tom Fox, a Houston-based lawyer who specialises in FCPA cases and anti-corruption law, said Akers' allegations that payments had been made to "police, military, government, prison and health and others" had destroyed that argument. "Speaking of a culture of corruption is really bad," said Fox. "There are two main types of FCPA case. In the first, a company has policies in place but fails to detect corruption. The second is far worse. And that's when there is a programme in place and you ignore it." Koehler said any prosecution was most likely under the "books and records and internal control provisions" of the FCPA. "If a company is misrepresenting payments or has insufficient internal controls to stop illegal payments before they occur, [FCPA officials] will take action," he said. In Akers' testimony, she claimed there were systems in place at the Sun to hide the identity of sources, and evidence to suggest those making the payments realised what they were doing was wrong. FCPA experts said the mounting evidence was also likely to put paid to arguments that the payments were too small and localised an issue to trigger a full FCPA case. In several recent cases brought by top US financial watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), action was taken against foreign subsidiaries because their accounts were consolidated with a US parent company. In February Smith & Nephew, a UK-based medical supplies company, paid $22m to settle charges that it had made "illicit payments to public doctors employed by government hospitals or agencies in Greece". S&N was hit by an FCPA action because it consolidated its accounts with its Memphis-based US subsidiary. Last April, New York-based Comverse Technology settled charges that it had violated the FCPA's books and records and internal controls provisions for payments made thorough an Israeli subsidiary. Koehler said the majority of FCPA cases were now being brought on books and record-keeping, as they were easier to prove. "The allegation that the subsidiaries' problematic books and records were consolidated with the parent company issuer's books and records for purposes of financial reporting is made in nearly every SEC FCPA enforcement action," he said. FCPA experts said investigators would now be looking for any similar evidence of payments that could violate FCPA rules in other News Corp markets like Australia. MacDougall said the investigations could also have ramifications fro News Corp in the US. "If any of this decision-making was made in the US, or if information flowed into the US outlets then that significantly increases exposure for those involved," he said. MacDougal said that there were a variety of statutes under US law that prosecutors could consider should they find direct US involvement in the case. "US prosecutors powers are very broad, and necessarily so," he said. But no case is likely to be brought against the firm soon. Koehler said typically it takes two to four years before the US authorities feel they have thoroughly exhausted an FCPA inquiry and decided whether or not to press charges

Inquiry Leader Says Murdoch Papers Paid Off British Officials The New York Times By SARAH LYALL February 27, 2012 LONDON — The officer leading a police investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers said on Monday that reporters and editors at The Sun tabloid had over the years paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for information not only to police officers but also to a “network of corrupted officials” in the military and the government. The officer, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, said that e-mail records obtained by the police showed that there was a “culture at The Sun of illegal payments” that were authorized “at a very senior level within the newspaper” and involved “frequent and sometimes significant sums of money” paid to public officials in the Health Ministry and the prison service, among other agencies. The testimony was a sharp new turn in a months-long judicial investigation of the behavior of Murdoch-owned and other newspapers, known as the Leveson inquiry. It detailed financial transactions that showed both the scale and the scope of alleged bribes, the covert nature of their payment and the seniority of newspaper executives accused of involvement. The testimony may prove damaging to the News Corporation, the American-based parent of Mr. Murdoch’s media empire, if it gives ammunition to the F.B.I. and other agencies that are investigating the company for possible prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Until now, the Leveson inquiry delved primarily into questions of unlawful accessing of private voice mail and e-mail by tabloid journalists. That scandal that forced the company to shut down The News of the World, Mr. Murdoch’s flagship Sunday tabloid, in July 2011; it was replaced last weekend by a new Sunday version of The Sun, which published its first issue hours before the latest hearings of the Leveson inquiry. In a statement, Mr. Murdoch, the head of News Corporation whose British subsidiary owns The Sun and other major newspapers here, did not specifically deny the allegations made by Ms. Akers. Rather, it focused on the company’s response: “As I’ve made very clear, we have vowed to do everything we can to get to the bottom of prior wrongdoings in order to set us on the right path for the future. That process is well underway. The practices Sue Akers described at the Leveson inquiry are ones of the past, and no longer exist at The Sun. We have already emerged a stronger company.” In recent weeks, a number of senior journalists from The Sun have been arrested on suspicion of making illegal payments to officials, and Ms. Akers said that the activities had been carried out by “the arrested journalists.” Ms. Akers said that the payments from The Sun went far beyond the occasional lunch or dinner, with one public official receiving more than $125,000 over several years, and a single journalist being allocated more than $238,000 in cash to pay sources, including government officials. It was clear from references in the e-mail messages — to staff members’ “risking losing their pension or job” and to the need for “tradecraft” like keeping the payments secret or making payments to friends or relatives of the officials — that the journalists in question knew that the payments were illegal, Ms. Akers said. “Systems have been created to facilitate such payments whilst hiding the identity of the officials receiving the money,” she said. “The e-mails indicate that payments to ‘sources’ were openly referred to within The Sun, with the category of public official being identified, rather than the individual’s identity.” She added: “Some of the initial e-mails reveal, upon further detailed investigation, multiple payments to individuals of thousands of pounds. There is also mention in some e-mails of public officials being placed on ‘retainers,’ and this is a line of inquiry currently being investigated.” None of the journalists have been formally charged. At first, they were suspended by The Sun pending the investigation. But in a bold move this month, Mr. Murdoch swept in to London, reinstated all of the suspended Sun employees and said that News International, the British newspaper branch of his company, News Corporation, would pay all of their legal bills. He also announced the plans to publish the new Sunday newspaper to replace The News of the World, which was closed in July when it became clear that it had routinely and illegally hacked into the voicemail messages of celebrities, sports stars, politicians and crime victims as a way to obtain stories. After the first edition of The Sun on Sunday, Mr. Murdoch declared in a message on Twitter that it had sold about 3 million copies. The damaging revelations on Monday were not limited to The Sun, but extended to The News of the World. According to a lawyer for the Leveson Inquiry, Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, was told explicitly by the police in 2006 that at least 100 people, including politicians and sports stars, had had their phones hacked by a private investigator working for The News of the World. Details of Ms. Brooks’s conversation with the police were revealed in an e-mail sent on Sept. 11, 2006, from a News International lawyer to the editor of The News of the World, Andy Coulson, the lawyer told the inquiry. According to the e-mail, Ms. Brooks was informed that police had evidence that the investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, appeared to have been paid more than $1.5 million by News International for his hacking work over a period of years. The revelation is hugely significant because it speaks to one of the crucial questions in the hacking inquiry that has swept through Mr. Murdoch’s British tabloids: who knew what, and when. Until 2010, Ms. Brooks, Mr. Coulson, Mr. Crone and a bevy of other News International officials repeatedly declared that phone hacking at The News of the World was limited to a single “rogue reporter” — the royal correspondent, Clive Goodman, who was jailed along with Mr. Mulcaire in 2007. According to the e-mail, though, Ms. Brooks was told that the list of victims of Mr. Mulcaire’s hacking work included politicians, sports stars and celebrities — people Mr. Goodman would have had no reason to write about. And it said she was told that while police investigators had no direct recordings of News of the World employees hacking victim’s voicemails, they did have phone records showing that Mr. Mulcaire had had frequent “sequences of contacts” with The News of the World before and after accesses. Speaking of the continuing police investigations, Ms. Akers said: “We are nearer the start than the finish on this inquiry and there remain a number of persons of interest. These include journalists and public officials.” In connection with a separate inquiry into phone hacking by British journalists, the Welsh singer Charlotte Church announced on Monday that she had agreed to settle her lawsuit against News International, the British newspaper subsidiary of News Corporation, for a payment of about $950,000 — much more than the company paid in earlier settlements with targets of phone hacking. The case may be a sign that the litigation over phone hacking will cost the company more than some analysts have assumed. Alan Cowell contributed reporting.

Nearly 250 victims to sue over News of the World hacking Up to 244 more victims of phone hacking are to sue the publisher of the News of the World, with court hearings set to continue until next year, it has emerged. Daily Telegraph By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter 1:38PM GMT 27 Feb 2012 Mr Justice Vos, the High Court judge who is dealing with damages claims by hacking victims, was told today that 14 more people have issued writs against News Group Newspapers, and another 180 have contacted solicitors with a view to doing the same. NGN, which has set up a compensation scheme for victims, has been contacted directly by around 50 people, taking the total to 244, though some of the 50 may also be among the 180 people who have contacted lawyers. Mr Justice Vos has set a trial date for Feb 18 next year for any claims that have not been settled out of court by then. To date, around 60 victims of phone hacking have reached settlements with NGN, including Charlotte Church and her parents, who accepted £600,000 in damages and costs today. Among the 14 new cases who have filed writs in recent weeks are Cherie Blair, Nigel Farage, the leader of UKIP, and Colin Stagg, who was wrongly accused of murdering a young mother, Rachel Nickell. The others include Eimear Cook, the former wife of the golfer Colin Montgomerie, Jamie Theakston, the broadcaster, James Blunt, the singer, and the footballers Kieron Dyer and Peter Crouch. Crouch’s ex-girlfriend Abbie Clancy, Jade Goody’s ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier, Duncan Foster, a former director of Coronation Street, and the former boxer Chris Eubank and his ex-wife Karron Stephen-Martin have also lodged court papers. Mr Justice Vos said NGN appeared to be making “superhuman efforts” to avoid any of the cases going to trial, but set the date in February 2013 for any litigants who fail to reach out-of-court settlements. Although 60 people have settled claims, five more cases are set to go to trial later this year, including claims by Ryan Giggs, the footballer, and Paul Burrell, the former royal butler, who have been unable to reach agreements with NGN. Giggs and Mr Burrell were among dozens of litigants who lodged court papers before a cut-off date for the first batch of cases in October last year. The Metropolitan Police has identified 829 potential victims of phone hacking from notebooks kept by Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by the News of the World to intercept voicemails. Of those, 231 are said to be uncontactable. It means that even if the 244 new cases are dealt with, NGN could still face claims from almost 350 more people who have been contacted by Scotland Yard and told they are potential victims of phone hacking. Michael Silverleaf QC, for NGN, told the High Court that out of approximately 50 people who have contacted News Group directly, the company has accepted responsibility for 20 victims, with the others yet to be decided.

Police chief tells Leveson the Sun had 'culture of illegal payments' to sources Sue Akers tells media ethics inquiry of newspaper's payment systems that hid identities of 'network of corrupted officials' Read Sue Akers's full statement here (pdf) http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/27/sun-culture-illegal-payments-leveson By David Leigh guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 February 2012 09.23 EST Hours after Rupert Murdoch's defiant gamble of launching a Sunday edition of the Sun, the head of the police investigations into illegal behaviour by journalists spelled out startling details of what she called a "culture of illegal payments" at the title. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers told the Leveson inquiry that one public official received more than £80,000 in total from the paper, currently edited by Dominic Mohan. Regular "retainers" were apparently being paid to police and others, with one Sun journalist drawing more than £150,000 over the years to pay off his sources. "The cases we are investigating are not ones involving the odd drink, or meal, to police officers or other public officials," she said. "Instead, these are cases in which arrests have been made involving the delivery of regular, frequent and sometimes significant sums of money to small numbers of public officials by journalists." "A network of corrupted officials" was providing the Sun with stories that were mostly "salacious gossip", she said. "There appears to have been a culture at the Sun of illegal payments, and systems have been created to facilitate such payments whilst hiding the identity of the officials receiving the money." Akers's reference to the systematic nature of alleged corruption, and its endorsement by senior executives, will be a clear signal to the US department of justice that her allegations, if proved, fall squarely within the ambit of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Rupert Murdoch's US parent company, News Corporation, could face fines of hundreds of millions of dollars unless it can show it has co-operated vigorously with the authorities in rooting out malpractice. Akers insisted in her testimony that, although she was dependent on News Corporation's management and standards committee (MSC) to turn over incriminating emails, she was confident the co-operation was working well and the MSC was independent of News International. She said the investigation into bribery, Operation Elveden, was following Crown Prosecution Service advice to focus on cash payments and not on "more general hospitality, such as meals or drinks". These were specifically excluded from Elveden's terms of reference. Her testimony contradicts claims by some Sun staff that the paper's journalists – 10 of whom have been arrested over corruption allegations – are being persecuted merely for buying lunch for contacts. After the arrests Mohan published a lengthy anti-police column in the Sun. Written by Murdoch veteran Trevor Kavanagh, it complained of a Soviet-style witch-hunt, and claimed vital press freedoms were under threat by the police raids. Others claimed the MSC was endangering the sanctity of journalists' sources by turning over information to the police. Akers told the inquiry that the MSC was handling police requests for information "in a manner that seeks to protect legitimate journalist sources at all times. Our aim is to uncover criminality. It is not to uncover legitimate sources." The MSC was redacting information about sources before handing it over unless there was an "evidential base" to justify attempts to identify the public official concerned. She said one police officer from the specialist operations division had been identified "who was seeking payments from journalists with the NoW". He had been arrested last December. But the investigation of two NoW journalists suspected of bribery had so far failed to identify any police they may have paid. Akers said the move to investigate the Sun as well as the NoW was the MSC's idea. "This review had not been requested by the [Metropolitan police]." Far from wanting to put the Sun out of business, she said, police had agreed to carry out arrests on a Saturday, when no daily journalists were working. The emails turned over by the MSC had led to the arrest so far of 10 Sun journalists, two police officers, a member of the Ministry of Defence, an army officer and the relative of a public official "acting as a conduit to hide a cheque payment". Akers said the 61-strong Elveden investigation was still at a relatively early stage in trying to identify the recipients of illicit cash: "The emails indicate that payments to 'sources' were openly referred to within the Sun … there is a recognition by the journalists that this behaviour is illegal, reference being made to staff 'risking losing their pension or job', to the need for 'care' and to the need for 'cash payments'. There is also an indication of 'tradecraft', ie hiding cash payments to 'sources' by making them to a friend or relative of the source." Murdoch gave a statement after Akers's evidence saying: "She [Akers] said the evidence suggested such payments were authorised by senior staff at the Sun. "As I've made very clear, we have vowed to do everything we can to get to the bottom of prior wrongdoings in order to set us on the right path for the future. That process is well under way. "The practices Sue Akers described at the Leveson inquiry are ones of the past, and no longer exist at the Sun. We have already emerged a stronger company

Brooks and Coulson 'warned about widespread phone hacking in 2006'• Police source 'told then Sun editor of around 100 victims' • Records 'suggested NI had paid Glenn Mulcaire over £1m' • Email submitted to Leveson inquiry reveals Coulson briefing By Vikram Dodd guardian.co.uk, Monday 27 February 2012 09.20 EST Both Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson were warned as early as 2006 that there was evidence of widespread hacking at the News of the World, according to an email that was submitted in evidence to the Leveson inquiry. The internal News International (NI) email shows an unnamed police source told Brooks there were between 100 and 110 "victims" while the News of the World was under criminal investigation for hacking phones in the royal household. She was also told there were records suggesting NI had paid more than £1m to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator employed to carry out the hacking. The email from NI lawyer Tom Crone to the then News of the World editor, Andy Coulson, sets out what the police knew and the steps they were planning to take in their first phone-hacking investigation. It was based on information that Crone says had been passed to him by Rebekah Brooks, then Wade, who was the editor of the Sun at the time. She had been News of the World editor before Coulson. "They are confident they have Clive [Goodman] and [Mulcaire] bang to rights on the palace interception," says Crone's email to Coulson. The email told Coulson that police had recovered payment records from News International to Mulcaire: "The only payment records they found were from News International … the News of the World retainer and other invoices. They said that over the period they looked at (going way back) there seemed to be over £1m of payments." Both Brooks and Coulson have repeatedly denied they had any knowledge of phone hacking in the years after the successful prosecution of royal correspondent Goodman and Mulcaire in 2007, although Coulson resigned from his position to take what he termed "ultimate" responsibility. The email was sent at 10.34am on 15 September 2006. Crone begins: "Andy, here's [what] Rebekah told me about info relayed to her by cops." It then sets out 10 key developments about what the police had discovered after arresting Mulcaire and raiding his premises. "Their purpose is to insure that when Glenn Mulcaire comes up in court the full case against him is there for the court to see (rather than just the present palace charges). All they are asking victims is 'did you give anyone permission to access your voicemail?' and if not 'do you wish to make a formal complaint?'," says the email. "They are confident that … they can then charge Glenn Mulcaire in relation to those victims. They are keen that the charges should demonstrate the scale of Glenn Mulcaire's activities so they would feature victims from different areas of public life, politics, showbiz, etc." The email shows that the police source had told Brooks that raids on Mulcaire's premises had recovered voice recordings and notes from them. But the extensive email, read out by Robert Jay QC at the Leveson inquiry, also seems to show the officer had said the police investigation would be limited in scope: "They suggested that they were not widening the case to include other NoW people but would do so if they got direct evidence … say, NoW journos directly accessing the voicemails (this is what did for Clive)". Another passage outlines the strength of the police case at that time: "They do have Glenn Mulcaire's phone records which show sequences of contacts with News of the World before and after accesses. Obviously they don't have the content of the calls so this is at best circumstantial." The email goes on to say police knew the pattern of victims being targeted, and which ones detectives would visit. The email says police were "confident" five to 10 victims would co-operate with a prosecution of Mulcaire. The email ends by saying: "They are going to contact RW today to see if she wishes to take it further". RW most likely refers to Rebekah Wade.

The ghosts of Watergate By George F. Will Washington Post Published: February 24, 2012 In 1960, when Thomas Mallon was in the fourth grade, he wore his Nixon-Lodge button to school and warned classmates that John Kennedy was too inexperienced to be president. Mallon was crushed when Richard Nixon lost, but things worked out well. He is a novelist for whom Nixon eventually provided interesting characters. They’re back. Howard Hunt, Bernard Barker, James McCord, John Dean, Bob Haldeman, Fred LaRue, Gordon Liddy, John and Martha Mitchell, Jeb Magruder, Charles Colson, Herbert Kalmbach, Gordon Strachan, Rose Mary Woods, Anthony (“Tough Tony”) Ulasewicz and others. These were the dramatis personae of the scandal — actually a mare’s nest of scandals — that began to become public 40 years ago this coming June 17. The gang that couldn’t burgle well properly got caught breaking back into the Democratic National Committee offices in the Watergate. This burglary was supposed to accomplish what a botched burglary in May had not accomplished — planting listening devices. The characters all have an encore in Mallon’s novel “Watergate.” In his practiced hands — this is not his first fling at historical fiction — the festering mess of 1972-74 becomes almost fun, actually funny, and instructive about how history can be knocked sideways by small mediocrities. Mallon decided to put the minor figure of LaRue — a Mississippi moneyman for the Committee for the Re-election of the President — at the novel’s center after seeing a Watergate documentary in which LaRue was profoundly remorseful about not having spoken up in a March 30, 1972, meeting with John Mitchell. There the former attorney general, then running Nixon’s reelection campaign, deferred for another day a decision about financing Liddy and other nitwits bent on mischief. Mallon believes, and he thinks that Nixon believed, that a distracted Mitchell, who was deeply in love with his deeply disturbed and alcoholic Martha, was at least partly to blame for things spinning out of control. Be that as it may, Mallon uses his literary sensibility and mordant wit to give humanity to characters who in their confusions and delusions staggered across the national stage, utterly unqualified for the prominence they enjoyed until it devoured them. A mountain of nonfiction has been written about Watergate, yet four decades on it is still unclear who ordered the burglary or why. Perhaps no one ordered it; perhaps Hunt and the Cubans from Bay of Pigs Brigade 2506 thought they were supposed to improvise ways to help save the republic from President Nixon’s opponent, George McGovern, who was just five months away from losing 49 states. Mallon thinks that the burglars may have been seeking evidence that Fidel Castro was funneling money to the McGovern campaign. But having listened to hundreds of hours of Nixon’s tapes, Mallon considers them “totally inculpating”: He is sure that Nixon — a “misanthrope in a flesh-presser’s profession” — did not know in advance about the burglary. Mallon hears Nixon on tape constantly “trying to give the impression that he knows more than he did, not less.” Mallon’s “Watergate” is a tale of floundering, frightened people unsure of what had happened or what others were telling investigators. He says that his novel contains “no big counterfactuals” — if you do not count his made-up affair between Pat Nixon and an old flame. The friendship that he depicts between Nixon, he of “that madly dissociative smile,” and the acidic Alice Roosevelt Longworth was real. Mallon deftly suggests the continuities of American history when he depicts Longworth remembering Abraham Lincoln’s former private secretary, John Hay, when he was secretary of state for her father, Theodore Roosevelt. Most Americans have no living memory of Watergate, and Mallon’s novel, which merits many readers, will be for many of them a primer, perhaps whetting their curiosity about this ugly discontinuity in the nation’s governance. Novels can be fine supplements to histories. Dumas Malone’s six-volume biography of Thomas Jefferson and Robert V. Remini’s several books on Andrew Jackson are splendid, but Max Byrd’s historical novels about the third and seventh presidents bring both men alive in ways that only a literary imagination can. One measure of Lincoln’s greatness is that not even a curdled cynic such as Gore Vidal could resist the spell in his novel “Lincoln.” To understand Huey Long, read T. Harry Williams’ masterful biography, but then get inside the scoundrel’s skin by reading Robert Penn Warren’s portrait of Long as Willie Stark in the novel “All the King’s Men.” And let Mallon be your archaeologist, excavating a now distant past that reminds us that things could be very much worse. They once

Video of program included in article: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/26/santorum-jfks-secularism-makes-me-throw-up/

Exclusive: Was 'Sun on Sunday' brought forward to beat revelations? 'Jaw-dropping' testimonies expected as focus turns to police and public officials The Independent By James Hanning Sunday, 26 February 2012 http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/exclusive-was-sun-on-sunday-brought-forward-to-beat-revelations-7441050.html Dramatic new evidence to the Leveson inquiry this week is expected to unleash a "bloodbath" of bitter recriminations between police and prosecution officials arguing over failings in a series of investigations into allegations of phone hacking, computer hacking and bribery by journalists. News International (NI) insiders say that the launch of The Sun on Sunday, which appears today, only nine days after Rupert Murdoch's announcement it was to go ahead, was brought forward because to launch a new paper in the wake of fresh revelations would be virtually impossible. But last week a new bout of allegations undermined NI's attempt to seize the PR initiative. It was reported that emails were being deleted until 2010, and yesterday it was reported that the Independent Police Complaints Commission was looking into a claim that a senior NI figure was given a report from inside the Metropolitan Police on the progress of the original police investigation. The day before, court documents emerged showing the systematic deletion of emails relating to phone hacking. The Leveson inquiry will this week begin to examine police-press relations, hearing evidence from the former deputy prime minister John Prescott, former deputy assistant Met commissioner Brian Paddick, former assistant commissioner John Yates, Andy Hayman who led the original inquiry former Metropolitan Police commissioners Sir Ian Blair and Sir Paul Stephenson and others. They are expected to reopen old wounds and make a series of startling new allegations relating to widespread bribery of officials for stories. "It is jaw-dropping stuff," said one legal source familiar with the evidence. "We will see the most sensational developments yet." A second source claimed the allegations and counterallegations would result in a "bloodbath". Revelations will include allegations that a web existed of corrupt public officials who received money from national newspapers, along with details of journalists who, over a period, have paid officials in one case well into six figures for stories. Such allegations are certain to stoke fury at the failure of the original police inquiry in 2005/06 to unearth the full extent of unlawful behaviour. After the home of Glenn Mulcaire was raided, police collected several bin bags of evidence which revealed he had been repeatedly commissioned by many reporters. Despite this, NI persisted in its claims it was the work of just one "rogue reporter". This failure to broaden the inquiry has given rise to accusations of an unhealthily close relationship between the police and NI. Two of those who have faced questions over the relationship with NI are John Yates and Andy Hayman. Mr Yates, who resigned last summer over the affair, is believed to be anxious to clear his name in the face of expected attempts to pin the blame on him. He has admitted shortcomings in the police investigation, but vehemently denies any personal impropriety, saying that the Director of Public Prosecutions set the bar impracticably high for securing a conviction for phone hacking, that counsel's advice gave him no reason to believe there was widespread wrongdoing and that terrorism had a more pressing claim on police resources. Last year, friends revealed he was "incandescent" at the cursory nature of the search carried out by some of his colleagues which, friends said, resulted in him making inaccurate public statements. It is believed that Mr Hayman, who led the original inquiry and went on to write a column for NI, will be scrutinised over the circumstances of his departure from the Met. His expenses have been the subject of much speculation, as have allegations of an affair. He, too, has vehemently denied wrongdoing. Sources at the Met have privately expressed fury at the failure of NI to collaborate fully with the investigation, or to unearth anything in its own inquiries. "They pretended they were co-operating and they weren't," said one source. By seemingly helping the police, NI made it difficult for the police to ask a judge for a warrant for a more exhaustive search. Other serving officers in the Met have pointed fingers privately at the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service. Yesterday, it was alleged that there were American phone numbers on the files of Glenn Mulcaire, which would be a significant development in terms of News Corps' attempt to move on from the scandal. Bloomberg website said that the numbers of the singer Charlotte Church's Los Angeles agent and New York publicist were found in Mulcaire's files. According to the report, the evidence is in the hands of the police in London. Opponents of the Murdoch organisation have said that if evidence emerged of phone hacking in the US, the damage to News Corps would dwarf the UK-based damage. Insiders at the Leveson inquiry are also expecting more evidence to emerge about how much Mulcaire was paid and who exactly commissioned him, while previously unknown phone-hacking targets are expected to be identified. The inquiry will hear from a number of victims of phone hacking, including the former deputy PM John Prescott and Lib-Dem deputy leader Simon Hughes. They are expected to relate how detectives mishandled their cases. Mr Prescott will reiterate his anger at the Metropolitan Police's failure to inform him his name and phone details had been found in Mulcaire's files. The police knew in 2006, for example, there was evidence that Tessa Jowell had had her phone hacked, yet she was not informed until years later. "Leveson knows the victims were kept in the dark for far too long: he is absolutely determined to make sure they aren't kept in the dark a moment longer," one source told The Independent on Sunday last night. The week ahead: Names due to appear before the inquiry Monday Sue Akers, the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) who is leading the inquiry into phone and email hacking and claims of bribery of public officials. Brian Paddick, former deputy assistant commissioner, MPS, who claims his voicemail was hacked. Lord Prescott, the former Labour Party deputy leader who also claimed his voicemail was hacked. Tuesday Nick Davies, The Guardian journalist. Jacqui Hames, former MPS officer, and Crimewatch presenter. MP Simon Hughes. Chris Jeffries, the Bristol landlord, who falsely implicated in the murder of Jo Yeates. Jane Winter, director of British Irish Rights Watch (to be confirmed) Magnus Boyd, solicitor (to be read) Wednesday Detective Inspector (MPS) Mark Maberley Detective Chief Superintendent (MPS) Keith Surtees Detective Sergeant Phillip Williams Thursday Peter Clarke, former deputy assistant commissioner with specialist operations, MPS Andy Hayman, former assistant commissioner, MPS Sir Paul Stephenson, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner John Yates, former assistant commissioner, MPS