Douglas Caddy

Once Upon a Secret: My Hidden Affair with JFK by Mimi Alford – review The confessions of a teenage intern in JFK's White House are less kiss'n'tell than three-act tragedy By Robert McCrum Guardian.co.uk Friday 10 February 2012 06.00 EST http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/feb/10/affair-jfk-kennedy-alford-review John F Kennedy, always a US icon, has over the years acquired a life story that's almost all sex and violence. Assassinated on 22 November 1963 in an atrocious public death, JFK and his record have become progressively tarnished by the sexual secrets of Camelot. The names of Judith Campbell Exner, Mary Pinchot Meyer, Gunilla von Post, Marlene Dietrich and two secretaries dubbed "Fiddle" and "Faddle" are now associated with the 35th president's private life as much as Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby are with his violent death. Marion ("Mimi") Beardsley Fahnestock Alford is the latest notch to be carved into the presidential bedpost. She was first outed by Robert Dallek in his 2003 JFK muckraker, An Unfinished Life, as a "tall, slender, beautiful" 19-year-old college sophomore with the pet-name "Monkey", and endured a firestorm of post-Lewinsky media intrusion. Now, as Mrs Alford, a sixtysomething divorcee, she has decided to take control of "my story". Actually, Once Upon a Secret is less an act of independent self-possession, more the helpless revelation of a woman as a victim. Her carefully constructed memoir, despite its marketing, is not so much a saucy kiss'n'tell of hanky panky in the White House, rather a tragic three-act case study of a young woman who flew too close to the sun. In American class terms, Mimi is medium posh. She describes a childhood of "preppie privilege", growing up "in a rambling colonial farmhouse" in New Jersey. Her parents were classic east coast Wasps, but no picnic: her father a manic depressive; her mother a domestic diva. Reading between the lines of her tight-lipped family history, it's clear that, as a young girl, Mimi was stifled, obedient, anxious – and low on self-esteem. "Everyone we knew was a Republican," she writes, "and shared the same Protestant faith." In high school, Mimi says she had "a run of bad luck" with boys. When her luck changed and she landed a suitor in eighth grade, she let him kiss her, once. Even in the late 1950s, this was not exactly the primrose path of dalliance. "That was the last kiss anyone bestowed on me through high school," she writes. "Monkey" Beardsley was a psychosexual accident waiting to happen. The first sign of trouble, aged 17 and feeling "like I didn't belong", was anorexia, though no one was using the word then. By 1962, barely 19, Miss "Changed Most Since Sophomore Year" was a young woman who, in her own words, "could talk and flirt and parry [with boys] easily. I just needed to find someone who understood me." It was at the climax of this first act in her life that, exploiting a school connection, young Marion Beardsley wrote to the first lady, Jackie Kennedy, and landed a job as a White House intern. Rarely has a naive virgin stepped into a more perilous scenario. Alford says that "the word feminism had not yet entered my vocabulary". It's a moot point whether women's lib could have inoculated this vulnerable 19-year-old against the aphrodisiac of supreme power. It was as if, she writes, on the brink of her fall, "I had been awarded membership in an elite club without having to go through the initiation process". Almost, but not quite. She was already in too deep. On only her fourth day at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Alford found herself in the White House swimming pool with "Fiddle" , "Faddle", JFK and his procuring "first friend", Dave Powers. Cocktails in the president's suite followed. According to Alford, the president "couldn't resist a girl with a little bit of social register in her". Late in June 1962 Mimi Alford experienced "the thrill of being desired". Cruelly, she "cannot describe what happened that night as making love". But she resists any charge of date rape. "I wouldn't call it non consensual, either." The 18-month affair Alford reveals reduced her 19-year-old self to the status of presidential plaything. She would do her college classwork in the limo on the way to have sex. JFK never kissed her on the mouth. Even in bed, she called him Mr President. Afterwards, she would listen to Little Peggy March or the Shirelles ("Will You Love Me Tomorrow?"). He preferred Tony Bennett or Frank Sinatra. The dark side of the man she calls "the Great Compartmentaliser", and who would identify himself on the telephone as "Michael Carter", was never far away. One day in the swimming pool, he decided that Dave Powers was looking "tense", and coerced Alford into giving the first friend a blow job. "I don't think the president thought I'd do it, but I'm ashamed to say that I did. The president silently watched." With sex, came drugs. Alford claims she was "the guinea pig" for the president's fascination with amyl nitrate – poppers. The exercise of power can be very discreet. The secret service turned a blind eye. Alford kept her shame to herself, and would do so for more than 40 years: "Blinded by the president's power and charisma, I was fully committed to keeping our affair secret." It was a joyless business. "I can't say our relationship was romantic. It was sexual, it was intimate, it was passionate," she writes. "But there was always a layer of reserve." Don't look to Once Upon a Secret for much new insight into JFK's presidency. Alford tells us that during the Cuban missile crisis, her lover confided "I'd rather my children be red than dead", but little else. On the death of his baby son, Patrick, he shared condolence letters with Alford, "tears rolling down his cheeks". That was probably the closest she came to the Great Compartmentaliser's heart. Then she met a boy her own age, Tony Fahnestock, and got engaged. She continued to see the president. In the third act of this romantic tragedy, it's only on JFK's assassination that she confesses all to her future husband. Fahnestock, with terrible cruelty, says he will forgive and marry her, but that she must never tell a soul. The burden of this secret (which she gradually shares with a tiny circle of girlfriends) stifles her emotional life, poisons her marriage, and traps her in what she calls "her emotional shell". Because this is America, where stories must have happy (or at least, feel-good) endings, she has therapy, finally meets Mr Right, and is able to "let go of my secret, and share". Sadly, for her, it may be too late. At the end of Once Upon a Secret she confesses she has perhaps "never been part of the story" and was only "a footnote to a footnote

Under-age lovers, transvestite tendencies and a porn stash - featuring Joan Crawford: New book exposes secret world of J. Edgar Hoover By Daniel Bates Daily Mail Last updated at 9:56 AM on 9th February, 2012 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098423/J-Edgar-Hoover-New-book-exposes-secret-world-FBI-Director.html Former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover is the subject of a new book that details his porn habit and rumours that he was a closeted homosexual and transvestite J. Edgar Hoover assembled the largest collection of pornography in history to meet his insatiable sexual demands, according to a new biography. The former director of the FBI built up a vast stock of adult films made by Hollywood stars before they were famous which he watched for his own titillation - or to blackmail them. They included one starring a very young Frank Sinatra made in 1934 he shot when he was a penniless wannabe actor slumming it in New York. Hoover was also partial to ‘classically erotic lithographs’ depicting men with giant phalluses or full frontal nudes which he hung on his bathroom walls Among the book’s other revelations are that Hoover and one of his close friends both had sex with a male suspect caught by the FBI - before letting him go and making his case disappear. Hoover has long been the subject of speculation about his private life, in particular that he was a transvestite and enjoyed a gay relationship with his close friend and FBI associate director Clyde Tolson. Last year saw the release of the Clint Eastwood biopic ‘J. Edgar’ starring Leonard Di Caprio, although it avoided the question of whether he was even gay. The new book by contrast goes much further and delves into the most sordid details of the man who did more to shape the morality of America than any other person. In 'J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson: Investigating the Sexual Secrets of America's Most Famous Men and Women', author Darwin Porter writes that Hoover built up what was considered the biggest porn collection in history. The material was culled from FBI raids and taken by Hoover for his own personal enjoyment. It was especially controversial because at the time pornography was illegal. In an interview with MailOnline, Porter said: ‘Hoover was especially interested in collecting copies of ‘blue movies’ made by movie stars before they became famous, Joan Crawford being among the most famous instances of this. ‘Hoover was said to have obtained a pirated copy of The Masked Bandit: He Robs P****, a ‘blue movie’ made by a very young Frank Sinatra (the film’s ‘masked bandit’) in 1934. ‘Sinatra shot this movie when he was down and out on the streets of Manhattan. His parents had kicked him out of their house for not pursuing a regular job.’ Porter added that Hoover was ‘mostly interested in nudes of famous people’ and would not just look at any old porn. Of particular interest were frontal nudes of male celebrities including Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, a teenage Warren Beatty, Elvis Presley, Charlton Heston and James Dean. Porter said: ‘It was widely reported that the gun molls of gangster John Dillinger defined his endowment as ‘the eighth wonder of the world.’ ‘When Dillinger was slain by the FBI, Hoover ordered an agent to take a nude picture of him as his dead body lay on a marble slab in a mortuary.’ In Porter’s book, Hoover is portrayed as clamping down on the sexual behaviour of an entire country whilst at the same time allowing himself free reign to conduct himself as he pleased. In one episode in 1947 his friend Guy Hotell, a Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Washington Field Office, brought in a 17-year-old suspected of robbery for questioning. Hotell had him released into his custody and flew him to a hotel in Miami where Hoover was on vacation and they both had sex with him before buying the teenager a plane ticket home and dropping the case. The book also details how in the 1930s Hoover used male prostitutes whilst on holiday in Havana at a notorious brothel known as 'Cocktail' whilst disguised in a fake moustache, hat pulled down and dark glasses so nobody would recognise him. In his later years Hoover also became obsessed with a bizarre that he could end WW2 by himself flying to Germany and arresting Hitler or gunning him down if he resisted. Hoover was the first director of the FBI and served for nearly 40 years until his death in 1972 at the age of 77. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098423/J-Edgar-Hoover-New-book-exposes-secret-world-FBI-Director.html#ixzz1ltzL5RGF

Leveson Inquiry: News of the World editor 'ordered deception of McCanns' Daily Telegraph By Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor 3:43PM GMT 09 Feb 2012 Colin Myler, the editor of the News of the World, ordered his news editor, Ian Edmonson, to mislead a spokesman for Madeleine McCann's parents about an intrusive story the tabloid planned to publish, it was claimed at the Leveson inquiry. Mr Myler was said to have told Mr Edmonson to have a "woolly" conversation with Clarence Mitchell and not reveal the fact that the newspaper was going to print Kate McCann's private diary. He came up with the ploy to stop the family of the missing girl obtaining an injunction against the story being published, the Leveson Inquiry into press standards heard on Thursday. The evidence from Mr Edmonson, the former head of news at the News of the World who is taking his old paper to an employment tribunal, contradicts what Mr Myler has previously said. The former editor has told the Leveson hearing that his paper would never have published the diary of the missing girl's mother if she had not been aware of the plan, and that he thought Mr Edmonson had cleared it with the McCanns' spokesman, Mr Mitchell. Giving evidence at the Royal Courts of Justice hearing, Mr Edmonson said he had a meeting with Tom Crone, the paper's senior lawyer, who gave a view of the story that "dismayed" his editor. He said the editor told him to phone Mr Mitchell but not to make it clear exactly what the paper had and intended to publish that Sunday - "make it very woolly". This was in case the McCanns "took action" to stop the story coming out, and also as cover in case they complained afterwards. "It would be in order to blame Clarence, that he hadn't acted properly on instruction." Mr Edmonson said he felt uneasy about doing this and suggested that the editor ring Gerry McCann himself, but was overruled. Asked by Lord Justice Leveson if he had told his editor that he had informed the McCanns' spokesman about the planned diary story, Mr Edmonson replied: "No." Although there was a "sea change" in the culture at the tabloid after the original phone-hacking trial and the Max Mosley case, Mr Edmonson said bullying still went on. "Everything emanates from the editor," he told the hearing. "It's not a democracy, the newspaper, it's autocratic," he concluded. Mr Edmonson also denied he had told the reporter Neville Thurlbeck what to write to the women seen in a notorious sex video with Max Mosley. "I wasn't in the habit of drafting or dictating emails." He said he "didn't like the tone" of the messages telling them they could remain anonymous if they cooperated with the paper, otherwise they would face exposure. "I think they're a threat." He said the "majority" of stories in which they used the private investigator Derek Webb to carry out surveillance were about love affairs, and that some were in the public interest. "There have been a number of examples of false public image - someone portrays themselves in the media as wholesome, faithful and would never cheat on their wife but they're doing something else in private." He said politicians would highlight their "family values" in election literature while celebrities would "parade their children" in glossy magazines. Mr Edmonson insisted the private investigator Mr Webb had been carrying out journalistic work and was simply better at following people than reporters, but admitted "it was a sham" to make him join the National Union of Journalists. He said important phone calls would be taped but that he would not tell the person on the end of the line that they were being recorded, lest they stopped talking.

Updated story from MSNBC with additional videos: http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/08/10355502-white-house-intern-speaks-about-jfk-affair-i-was-sort-of-swept-into-this-web http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46325017#46325017

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46312054#46312054 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46314811#46314811 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46314966#46314966

Phone hacking: Steve Coogan says he was forced to act when police failed Daily Telegraph 7:15PM GMT 08 Feb 2012 Steve Coogan said he had other victims of phone-hacking by the News of the World had been forced to “fight for the truth” after being let down by police and politicians, as another 15 cases were settled for substantial damages. The actor claimed that News International had almost succeeded in covering up the “scandal” until their targets, including some members of the public with “tenuous” links to the news, took on Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in civil claims. He made his comments after appearing at the High Court to accept £40,000 in damages from the publishers of the disgraced tabloid newspaper, along with claimants in 14 other cases whose voicemail messages were intercepted by reporters and private investigators. Figures from politics including George Galloway, Alastair Campbell and Simon Hughes also received damages on Wednesday, as did sporting stars such as Paul Gascoigne, who fell out with friends because he thought they were selling stories about him while they accused him of paranoia. The High Court heard that others caught up in the disgraced newspaper's activities included a rival journalist, people who were merely friends with celebrities and the mother of a 7/7 victim. These latest payments, coming weeks after a first tranche of 37, mean that 54 of the original 60 cases have now been settled. Five more cannot be heard yet for technical reasons while the singer Charlotte Church and her parents have refused to settle their claims, paving the way for a landmark trial later this month. A pre-trial hearing was also told that another 50 cases have been launched in recent months by public figures including the singer James Blunt, the UKIP politician Nigel Farage, the footballer Peter Crouch and his wife Abby Clancey, the former wife of golfer Colin Montgomerie, Eimear Cook, and the footballer Kieron Dyer. It means 56 cases are still outstanding against News Group Newspapers, part of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, and Glenn Mulcaire, the PI who was jailed in 2007 in the original criminal trial for phone-hacking. Lawyers read a series of statements on Wednesday morning from those who have settled their cases before the trial. The judge, Mr Justice Vos, heard that Coogan, who was in the courtroom, was an actor "best known in this jurisdiction for his role as Alan Partridge". He had become concerned about the security of his mobile phone back in 2005 with Vodafone telling him of "suspicious activity". He later found out that Mulcaire, acting for News of the World reporters, had got hold of his mobile phone account number and password as well as accessing his voicemail messages. Coogan was awarded £40,000 in damages plus legal costs but said later: “This has never been about money. Like other people who have sued, I was determined to do my part to show the depths to which the Press can sink in pursuit of private information.” He went on: “At the time when these civil cases began, News International seemed likely to succeed in covering up the hacking scandal completely. Neither the police nor the Government were willing to hold those responsible accountable. “For a long time it was left to victims of these egregious practices to fight for the truth.” Coogan called the Leveson Inquiry into press standards a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to ensure others are not subjected to the same “abuse”. Mr Hughes, the prominent Lib Dem MP, was awarded £45,000 for phone-hacking between 2002 and 2006. He said outside the Rolls Building: "It was criminal behaviour on an industrial scale." Sky Andrew, the football agent, was awarded £75,000 as his business reputation had been put at risk when stories about his clients were published that had been obtained illicitly. Sally King, who had been a friend of the Labour minister David Blunkett, received £60,000 while her husband was awarded £50,000 and her father and brother substantial undisclosed damages. Although they were not public figures, reporters hacked their phones, waited outside their homes and even followed them to America after booking seats on the same flight. Paul Gascoigne, the former England footballer, accepted a £68,000 payout which took into account the "mental harm" caused by interception of his private phone messages. He was accused of being paranoid because he thought he was being bugged, and apologised to friends and family for suspecting him of leaking information to the press. His lifelong friend James Gardner, better known as Jimmy Five Bellies, received undisclosed damages as did Phil Hughes, a friend of the late football star George Best. George Galloway had five voicemail messages intercepted around the start of the Iraq invasion in 2003 and received £25,000 in damages. A further group of claims was settled that were brought by another football agent, a dancer, a journalist and his family and Sheila Henry, whose son Christian Small was killed in the terrorist attack on London’s transport network in 2005. Statements were not read in other cases that were settled, including those thought to have involved the singer Pete Doherty and Lord Prescott's former secretary, Tracey Temple. In the forthcoming two-week trial of the claims brought by Miss Church and her parents, it will be claimed that 33 articles published in the News of the World between 2002 and 2006 were based on the illegal interception of their phone messages.

Phone hacking: News International faces more than 50 new damages claims High court hears alleged victims include Peter Crouch, James Blunt and Nigel Farage as dozens more cases are prepared By Lisa O'Carroll and Jason Deans guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 February 2012 11.44 EST News International is facing more than 50 new damages claims from alleged victims of News of the World phone hacking, including Peter Crouch, James Blunt and Nigel Farage, the high court has heard. Rupert Murdoch's UK newspaper publisher has already settled more than 50 civil actions for invasion of privacy, including 16 involving 21 individuals such as comedian Steve Coogan that were confirmed at the high court on Wednesday, for several million pounds in damages and legal costs. The details of six of Wednesday's settlements were revealed, costing News International another £363,000 in damages. However, there is no sign of a let-up on the pressure facing News International, with Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing phone-hacking victims, telling the high court that six new cases had been filed, with a further 50 being prepared. Out of these new civil actions, five have already been selected to be "lead cases". They will, along with the continuing action by Charlotte Church, be considered with a view to establishing a benchmark for damages for the 800 or so potential victims of News of the World phone-hacking identified so far by the Metropolitan police. These new cases are being taken by Crouch, the England and Stoke footballer, and his wife Abbey Clancy; musician Blunt; Farage, the Ukip leader and MEP; Eimear Cook, the ex-wife of former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie; and former England footballer Kieron Dyer. The damages settlements revealed at the high court on Wednesday bring the total number of phone-hacking cases News International has settled to 54, with six remaining in dispute. These are Church, Ryan Giggs, Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames and her husband, police detective David Cook, former royal butler Paul Burrell, Max Clifford's former assistant Nicola Philips, and Elle Macpherson's former financial adviser Mary Ellen Field. Tomlinson told Lord Justice Vos at the high court that Church who was one of a number of potential test cases willing to go to full trial. The singer, who is suing along with her mother Maria and father James, claims 33 articles published by the News of the World between 2002 and 2006 came directly from phone hacking. She also claims that her father was forced to sell his pub in Wales because of the distress caused by press coverage. Coogan, ex-football star Paul Gascoigne and the mother of a 7/7 terrorist bombing victim were among the 21 individuals whose settlements were revealed at the high court on Wednesday. Coogan, who has been fighting a case against News International since 2010, has been one of the leading critics of the company but settled his civil action after it admitted his phone had been hacked by the News of the World and agreed to payout damages of £40,000. He said after Wednesday's court hearing that it was "never about money" and he had just wanted "to show the depths to which the press can sink in pursuit of private information". At the time he began the civil action for invasion of privacy, the tabloid denied any wrongdoing. Coogan, who attended court to hear his settlement being read, added that he was delighted the company had finally capitulated after years of denial that anyone other than a "rogue reporter" covering royal stories had been involved in phone hacking. "I am pleased that after two years of argument and denials, News International has finally agreed to settle my case against it for hacking my voicemails. It has been a very stressful and time-consuming experience for me and for those close to me," he added. MP Simon Hughes was also in court for the settlement and was awarded £40,000 in damages. Other victims who have settled included singer Pete Doherty, jockey Kieran Fallon, and football agent Sky Andrew, who won £75,000, one of the largest payments announced on Wednesday. The largest settlement of all went to Sally King, an estate agent, and her husband Andrew. They were collectively awarded £110,000 – £60,000 for her, £50,000 to her husband in a joint claim, along with undisclosed damages for her father John Anderson and her autistic brother Scott. The high court heard how King, a friend of David Blunkett, had been subjected to physical surveillance and phone hacking by the News of the World, which instructed reporters and photographers to follow them. King went on holiday to the US and discovered that a News of the World reporter was booked on the same flight and photographers and reporters waiting at the rural holiday destination. Her solicitor Charlotte Harris told the court: "The effect of this intensive and intrusive campaign of surveillance, pursuit and harassment, as well as the publication of intrusive and private information on those private individuals has been profound." Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's one time spin doctor also settled on Wednesday for undisclosed damages, as did Sheila Henry, the mother of 7/7 victim Christian Small. Former England footballer Paul Gascoigne was awarded £60,000 plus special damages of £8,000. The court heard that hacking had a "serious detrimental effect on his wellbeing", and that he was told he was paranoid for thinking he had been targeted. His friend Jimmy Gardner also received undisclosed damages. Sky Andrew, who acts as an agent for footballers such as Sol Campbell, received £75,000. George Galloway received £25,000 and the court was told that he was targeted from the time of the second Gulf war in 2003. In a statement, Hughes said: "The evidence in my case clearly demonstrates that the practice of hacking was widespread and went much further up the chain than Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire. It was criminal behaviour on an industrial scale." He added: "Anyone involved in criminal activity at the News of the World must be brought to justice, and all those who allowed a large company to behave in this way must be held to account." In a statement posted on his blog, Campbell described the settlement as a "satisfactory outcome" for him and added that as part of his agreement, the News of the World publisher had "also undertaken to continue searches of other 'documents in its possession', so that I can ascertain the extent of any further wrongdoing, both for the time I worked in Downing Street and since, and they have agreed I 'may be entitled to further damages in certain circumstances'".

News Corp shrugs off $87m loss on NoW closure as profits soar Murdoch firm sees 43% income decrease in publishing division – but losses offset by 65% growth for company as a whole By Dominic Rushe in New York guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 February 2012 17.23 EST The ongoing investigations that led to the closure of the News of The World cost Rupert Murdoch's News Corp $87m in the last three months of 2011, the company has announced. But the media giant shrugged off the hacking scandal as net income increased 65% for the quarter ended December 31. The loss of the paper, the most profitable in Murdoch's stable, has cost the firm a total of $104m, mostly in lawyers' fees, in the last six months of 2011, said Chase Carey, News Corp's chief operating officer. It also contributed to a 43% decrease in operating income at the media giant's publishing division, the company said releasing its latest quarterly results. News Corp's results came on the same day that the company paid more settlements to victims of the phone-hacking scandal. It also emerged that others, including the singer James Blunt, were considering bringing cases against News Corp. Publishing income fell $162m to $218m, a 43% drop from the same period a year ago. News Corp blamed lower advertising revenues at its Australian newspapers, as well as the loss of the News of the World in the UK. "Our priority on this is to make things right," said Carey. He declined to comment on how much money News Corp expected to pay in settlements or legal fees. But the losses at News Corp's newspaper division were more than offset by strong growth in the firm's cable networks and movie studio divisions and second quarter profits soared 65%. Net income rose $1.06bn for the fiscal second quarter, compared with $642m a year ago. Fox News marked its 10th consecutive year as the US's leading cable channel last year, and the cable division reported $882m in operating income for the quarter, a 20% hike compared to last year. News Corp's film division reported income of $393m for the quarter, a $204m increase over the $189m reported in the same period a year ago. The results were helped by the home release of movies including Rio, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class, plus the theatrical release of Oscar hopeful The Descendants. Revenues from digital sales via Amazon and Netflix were $200m for the last six months, said Carey. Income at Fox's television assets grew 25% to $189m helped by the success of The X Factor, comedy show New Girl, Major League Baseball and the NFL. Murdoch, News Corp's chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement: "I am particularly pleased with the success of our business strategies in spite of the uncertain economic conditions that we continue to face

Also this is worth viewing.

JFK Truth with Jim Marrs & St. John Hunt Part 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HF58Y6kerdU Part 2 follows. Other than the first two minutes, it is basically a verbatim rebroadcast of Part 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxkkMmGCWSk&feature=related

It is a good one because it is true. http://whitehousetapes.net/clip/lyndon-johnson-jacqueline-kennedy-lbj-and-jacqueline-kennedy

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098064/John-F-Kennedy-bought-1-200-Cuban-cigars-hours-ordered-US-trade-embargo.html

I regret that you maintain the information in Spartacus to be inaccurate. I have always found the Spartacus profiles to be right on target. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhooverE.htm

The evidence just keeps stacking up about John Kennedy's rampant and promiscuous lifestyle. I have done a lot of research on both Lyndon Johnson and Bill Clinton and they were identical in this regard. "Critical thinking skills" tells me this MiMi Beardsley story is probably true. Maybe Larry Hancock has personal moral values and would not behave in the way of JFK, LBJ or Bill Clinton. But I can easily see John Kennedy - based on the literal MOUNTAIN of evidence that we have about his rampant sexual promiscuity - taking time off from the Cuban Missile Crisis when Curtis LeMay, the JCS and the other cabinet members were trying to blow up the world - I could easily seeing John Kennedy finding a spot in his schedule for some *special time* with (one of his) fetching young mistresses and confidant. When it came to JFK, LBJ and Bill Clinton, when the door closed with them and a woman it was GAME ON! There is no doubt that the Kennedy haters and those who want to cover up the ugly reality of the JFK assassination use John Kennedy's dysfunctional and over-the-top promiscuous sexual lifestyle as a diversionary tactic from much more important issues. I agree with that. But - just as in the case of the right wing trying to nail Clinton on his sex life - the reality of JFK's and Clinton's (and LBJ's... and name 10 other politicians, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich) is often real. Oops did not mean to leave out John Edwards and his mistress and love child (a story completely ignored by the national media while the National Enquirer was scooping them for 6 months). I am at the point where I believe almost ALL of the sex stories about Kennedy - Inga Avard, Judith Exner, Ellen Rometsch, MiMi Beardsley, Mary Meyer, the case of his son Jack Worthington (whose mother was provided to JFK by Lyndon Johnson). Marilyn Monroe - of course. Jayne Mansfield - absolutely. Angie Dickinson - no doubt. The only "story" I am suspending belief on for now is the Timothy Leary-Mary Meyer-LSD story. Well, everything else is true, so why not that one? I am not there yet, but I am headed that way. Dr. Feelgood Max Jacobson certainly had JFK flying high as a kite on amphetamines and God knows what else he put in those shots- "amphetamines, vitamins, painkillers, and human placenta." Max Jacobson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Jacobson One more thing, I bet John Kennedy was having a sexual affair with ABC reporter Lisa Howard, too. Isn't she on the record as admitting to an affair with Fidel Castro? I bet Lisa Howard was probably doing some sexual diplomacy with both JFK and Castro. Any CIA spies and eavesdroppers would NOT have liked that development; I could seem them using that to justify further actions against JFK. Lisa Howard & Castro: http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo1sgoPPor1qbpo86o1_500.jpg There is a whole gynasium full of mistresses, stories, documentation, re-confirmation about the rampant sexual promiscuity of John Kennedy (and Bill Clinton), yet some folks just don't want to *believe.* Well, it's a free country and you don't have to believe. I personally have a fascination with the truth, even if it's the ugly truth. Oftentimes the hidden truth is an ugly truth. Here is what George Smathers, a close friend of JFK who was considering along with Sen. Terry Sanford of NC as a replacement for Lyndon Johnson on the 1964 Democrat ticket, has to say: According to Smathers, “No one was off limits to Jack – not your wife, your mother, your sister.” During their Senate days, Kennedy and Smathers shared a pied-a-terre where they could carry on discreet affairs. Once, when Smathers was called away to the Senate, leaving Kennedy with both of their dates, he returned to find the ambitious senator chasing both girls around the apartment. Having two girls at once was one of Kennedy’s favorite pastimes,” Smathers said. George Smathers said that “just in terms of the time he spent with a woman, he was a lousy lover. He went in more for the quantity than quality.” [irving Wallace, Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky, Sylvia Wallace, The Intimate Sex Lives of Famous People, p. 362] Angie Dickinson said that sex with JFK was "the most exciting 15 seconds" in her life. She also said that for JFK, having sex was just like having a cup of coffee. I remember a dinner in the 1960's in NYC with newspaper columnist Alice Widener and Robert Bleiberg, the editor of Barron's Financial Weekly, and several other persons in which the discussion turned to the interim period between JFK's election and his inauguration, and someone remarked that JFK was then known as the president-erect rather than the president-elect.

Texas professor asking DC court for access to long-sealed documents in Watergate case By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press First Posted: February 07, 2012 - 5:31 pm Last Updated: February 07, 2012 - 7:37 pm http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/896b1c71e2d44b66bd234e002fac167c/DC--Watergate-Court-Materials/#.TzHCzE92oIN.facebook WASHINGTON — A history professor from Texas is seeking access to long-sealed court records that he believes may help explain the motivation behind the Watergate break-in that ultimately drove President Richard Nixon from office. Luke Nichter of Texas A&M University-Central Texas in Killeen, Texas, is seeking the release of potentially hundreds of pages of documents. On Tuesday, a judge in Washington gave the government a month to object to the request. Nichter wants to unseal records that were part of the court case against seven men involved in the 1972 burglary. He said the documents originally were sealed because they were seen as unnecessary to proving the group, which was tied to Nixon's re-election campaign, was responsible for the break-in at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in Washington. Nichter, who also runs a website cataloging secret recordings made by President Nixon in the White House, said the materials he wants may help answer lingering questions about the burglary. The documents may explain the motivation for the burglary, which has been disputed, he said. In particular, he wants access to materials resulting from an earlier, successful burglary at the headquarters in May 1972. During that break-in, a wiretap was placed on at least one phone. It was during a second burglary more than two weeks later that the group was caught with additional bugging devices. Information about the contents of the initial wiretaps, which played a role in prompting the second burglary, were sealed and never revealed. Nichter says the original reason for sealing the documents was they were seen as unnecessary to proving the group was responsible for the break-in at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters. "These and other sealed materials may be the key to determining why the Watergate break-in occurred, who ordered it, and what the burglars were looking for," Nichter wrote in asking the chief judge of the federal court in Washington to unseal the materials. He said it's time they are released. "Nearly four decades after the break-in don't the American people deserve to know something closer to the truth?" Nichter wrote in another letter. Nichter initially wrote to U.S. District Chief Judge Royce Lamberth about releasing the material in 2009, and the two have since corresponded about the issue. Lamberth said in a 2010 letter made public Tuesday that he believed the professor had "raised a very legitimate question" about accessing the material. Lamberth previously has granted access to sealed Watergate material. Last year, he ordered that a secret transcript of President Nixon's testimony to a grand jury about the Watergate break-in be made public. Lamberth agreed with historians that arguments for releasing the transcript outweighed arguments for secrecy, because the investigations are long over and Nixon died in 1994. Nichter said in a telephone interview Tuesday that like many people, he's just curious about the documents he's requested. He said he believes that if the government doesn't object, the material could be available in as little as two months. It's not clear exactly where the material is, although it likely is in the courthouse, Nichter said. It's also not clear exactly how many pages of material were sealed. ___ Jessica Gresko can be reached at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko

“J. Edgar Hoover received information that President John F. Kennedy was having a relationship with Ellen Rometsch. In July 1963 Federal Bureau of Investigation agents questioned Romesch about her past. They came to the conclusion that she was probably a Soviet spy. Hoover actually leaked information to the journalist, Courtney Evans, that Romesch worked for Walter Ulbricht, the communist leader of East Germany. When Robert Kennedy was told about this information, he ordered her to be deported. “The FBI had discovered that there were several women at the Quorum Club who had been involved in relationships with leading politicians. This included both John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. It was particularly worrying that this included Mariella Novotny and Suzy Chang. This was a problem because they both had connections to communist countries and had been named as part of the spy ring that had trapped John Profumo, the British war minister, a few months earlier. President Kennedy told J. Edgar Hoover that he 'personally interested in having this story killed'. “Hoover refused and leaked the information to Clark Mollenhoff. On 26th October he wrote an article in The Des Moines Register claiming that the FBI had "established that the beautiful brunette had been attending parties with congressional leaders and some prominent New Frontiersmen from the executive branch of Government... The possibility that her activity might be connected with espionage was of some concern, because of the high rank of her male companions". Mollenhoff claimed that John Williams "had obtained an account" of Rometsch's activity and planned to pass this information to the Senate Rules Committee.” Source: The above is quoted verbatim from: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhooverE.htm One cannot help but wonder if the archives of the KGB contain information about JFK being compromised because of his womanizing of communist agents or whether a female communist may someday write a book about her relations with a promiscuous JFK. As John Simkin rightfully acknowledges, JFK was an above average U.S. President. We all recognize this. But he by nature suffered from sexual addiction, an obsession that may have led him as its leader to potentially put the Free World in harm’s way. It will be interesting to see what additional new information is contained in Ms. Alford’s book, to be officially released today, that has not been covered in the media reports to date.

U.S. authorities looking into Murdoch foreign payments Reuters By Mark Hosenball and Georgina Prodhan LONDON | Tue Feb 7, 2012 11:00am EST LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are stepping up investigations, including an FBI criminal inquiry, into possible violations by employees of Rupert Murdoch's media empire of a U.S. law banning corrupt payments to foreign officials such as police, law enforcement and corporate sources said. But U.S. investigators have found little to substantiate allegations of phone hacking inside the United States by Murdoch journalists, the sources added. The FBI is conducting an investigation into possible criminal violations by Murdoch employees of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law intended to curb payment of bribes by U.S. companies to foreign officials, a U.S. law enforcement official said. The U.S. official said that if any law enforcement action was pursued by U.S. authorities against Murdoch employees, it would most likely relate to FCPA. If it is found to have violated the FCPA, Murdoch's News Corp, which has its headquarters in New York, could be fined up to $2 million and barred from U.S. government contracts, and individuals who participated in the bribery could face fines of up to $100,000 and a jail sentence of five years. Executives could be liable if they authorized bribes or knew about the practice but failed to stop it. In practice, U.S. authorities have usually settled FCPA cases in return for large cash payments from companies, who can sometimes avoid legal admissions of guilt. Much of the evidence police are examining in the News Corp case was handed over to investigators by the company, who have set up a special clean-up unit in London and hired batteries of lawyers in Britain and the United States, some of whom specialize in FCPA cases, company sources said. The U.S. Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission also have jurisdiction to pursue civil cases against alleged violators of the law. Bloomberg news service reported last year that Justice Department prosecutors sent News Corp, U.S. parent of Murdoch's UK media properties, a request for information on alleged payments which journalists made to British police officers in return for news tips. LAWYERS Sources close to News Corp said the Management and Standards Committee (MSC), the unit which the company set up to deal with phone hacking and related investigations, for some time had been concerned about the consequences of U.S. investigations of possible FCPA violations. Both News International and parent company News Corp declined to comment. Reuters is a competitor of Dow Jones Newswires, a unit of News Corp. Last July, the company retained Mark Mendelsohn, who served as deputy chief of the Fraud Section in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department. Mendelsohn, now in private practice, was internationally respected as an architect of the DOJ's Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement program. News Corp sources confirmed that the Management and Standards Committee was also working with Williams & Connolly, a prominent Washington law firm specializing in white-collar crime cases. The New York Times reported last year that one of the lawyers working on the News Corp case was Brendan Sullivan, a Williams & Connolly partner known for his public defense of White House aide Oliver North during Congressional investigations into an arms-for-hostages scandal during the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. News Corp announced last month that another Williams & Connolly partner, Gerson Zweifach, would become its top new in-house lawyer. He is also expected to join the Management and Standards Committee. Company sources said that, via the MSC, News International was routinely sharing with its outside lawyers, including Williams & Connolly, evidence which had been uncovered of suspected questionable practices including payments to British police officers. The MSC declined to comment. Among evidence turned over by the company to British authorities are emails and financial records which allegedly chart the payment of more than 100,000 pounds ($158,000) to police contacts, mostly in sums of under 1,000 pounds. A company source said the records showed many or most of the payments intended recipients were listed in company records under false names. THREE INVESTIGATIONS London's Metropolitan Police Service for months has been investigating an assortment of suspected abusive practices which journalists at the News of the World and other Murdoch London newspaper properties are alleged to have routinely employed in recent years. British detectives are conducting three parallel investigations. One inquiry, known as Operation Weeting, is investigating alleged phone hacking, and a second inquiry, Operation Tuleta, is investigating allegations of computer hacking. The third investigation, Operation Elveden, is investigating allegations that journalists paid police officers bribes in return for story tipoffs. The head of the three investigations said this week she was increasing the number of police looking at police payments. The law enforcement source said U.S. authorities found no evidence to substantiate allegations that potentially illegal reporting tactics that were alleged to have been widespread in Britain were also employed by Murdoch journalists in the United States. Law enforcement and corporate sources said no evidence had turned up to corroborate a Daily Mirror accusation that journalists from Murdoch's now defunct News of the World sought to hack into voice mail messages of victims of the al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington of September 11, 2001. The Mirror is a competitor of Murdoch's London tabloid, the Sun. London police have arrested 30 people, including journalists and police officers, in connection with its three journalism-related investigations. Last month, four current and former journalists on the Sun, the largest-circulation British paper, as well as a serving police officer were arrested in connection with Operation Elveden. Sue Akers, the officer in charge of all the investigations, said on Monday that 14 people so far had been arrested in connection with Operation Elveden, but indicated that more investigators were likely to be added to the inquiry, which she said still had some time to run. To date, no criminal charges have been filed against any of the individuals arrested over the past year, who include Rebekah Brooks, a former CEO of Murdoch's London papers, and Andy Coulson, a former Murdoch editor who became top media adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron. However, current investigations trace their roots back to the 2006 arrests, and subsequent guilty pleas, of News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman and private detective Glenn Mulcaire on phone hacking charges. ($1 = 0.6331 British pounds) (Additional reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Alison Williams) (This story corrects name of clean-up committee to “Management and Standards Committee” from “Management Standards Committee” throughout; removes words “of News International” in 11th paragraph to make clear the body is part of News Corp, not News International)

As I still resided in the Washington, D.C. area at the time, I followed Connally's 1975 trial closely and early on came to the conclusion that he would not be convicted, although he was obviously guilty, because of the character witnesses who spoke up for him that had been called to testify by Edward Bennett Williams. As a result of the demographic makeup of Washington, D.C., any criminal defendant who could have Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and the Rev. Billy Graham testify in his behalf was assured of being found not guilty. According to Wikipedia, at his trial, he called as character witnesses Jackie Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Barbara Jordan (the first African American woman state senator in Texas history), Dean Rusk, Robert McNamara, and Billy Graham. Connally was acquitted." Someone who knew LBJ intimately once told me that the only person LBJ was truly afraid of was Connally, who would stop at nothing at achieve his ends. On a later occasion, another person, Shearn Moody, informed me that one of his friends, a Galveston (Texas) County official, had just received a telephone call from her close friend, Nellie Connally, who was terribly upset because John is in a killing mood. Ray Hill of Houston was convicted of burglary and sentenced to 160 years in prison. He has told the story on his award-winning Pacifica radio program, The Prison Show, that shortly after his conviction he and his father journeyed to Connallys ranch in Southwest Texas where they purchased a calf for $150. When Hill reported to prison a short time later to begin serving his time, the warden came out to greet him personally. Ultimately he served only 4 ½ years. In 1972, I had my deposition taken by Edward Bennett Williams at his law firm in connection with his representation of the Democratic National Committee in its civil law suit brought in the wake of the break-in at the DNC at Watergate. Because the Washington Post had built me up as a "mysterious" person in the case, I arrived an hour early at the law firm to avoid the press, which I knew would gather outside the building, and sat unnoticed in the firm's reception area until the time for deposition. I then took an elevator up to the floor where Williams' office was located. As I stepped off the elevator, I saw his secretary conferring with Leslie Stahl of CBS News. His secretary, not knowing who I was, started screaming at the top of her voice, "Get off this floor! Leave! You have no right to be here!" I was so taken aback by this violent outburst that I automatically stepped back into the elevator but before the door closed heard my name called by the secretary. Leslie Stahl, who had covered my appearances before the federal grand jury in prior months, had informed her who I was. The flustered secretary then ushered me into Connally's conference room, crowded with lawyers, where my deposition taken. Of course, I was not named subsequently as a defendant in the Democrats' civil suit.

Met Police admits hacking failure was 'unlawful' Daily Telegraph 12:11PM GMT 07 Feb 2012 The Metropolitan Police Service today accepted at the High Court that its failure in 2006 and 2007 to warn victims of phone hacking by the News of the World was unlawful. News of the acceptance that it had ''breached a legal obligation'' came as two judges in London heard that a number of claimants - including former Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott - had settled judicial review proceedings brought against the Met over ''failures to warn victims''. Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Irwin were told that the two sides had reached agreement by Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Lord Prescott, ex Met Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick, actor Jude Law's personal assistant Ben Jackson, MP Chris Bryant and an anonymous individual known as HJK. Mr Tomlinson said the claimants and the Met had agreed a ''declaration'' - in which the Met admits it breached its duties under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Lord Prescott was in court for the proceedings. Law firm Bindmans, for the claimants, said in a statement that the declaration "constitutes an admission by the police that their failure to warn victims that their privacy was or may have been unlawfully invaded was a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights". That article provides that "everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence". Lord Prescott said in a statement: "It's taken me 19 months to finally get justice. "Time and time again I was told by the Metropolitan Police that I had not been targeted by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World. "But I refused to accept this was the case. Thanks to this judicial review, the Metropolitan Police has finally apologised for its failure to inform victims of the criminal acts committed by the News of the World against myself and hundreds of other victims of phone hacking." The Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement: "The MPS is pleased to have reached an agreement in this case and accepts more should have been done by police in relation to those identified as victims and potential victims of phone hacking several years ago. "It is a matter of public record that the unprecedented increase in anti-terrorist investigations resulted in the parameters of the original inquiry being tightly drawn and officers considered the prosecution and conviction of Clive Goodman and Glen Mulcaire as a successful outcome of their investigation. "There are now more than 130 officers involved in the current phone-hacking inquiry (Weeting) and the two operations being run in conjunction with it, and this in part reflects the lessons that have been learned about how police should deal with the victims of such crimes. "Today's settlement does not entail damages being paid by the MPS and, as the court has made clear, sets no precedent for the future. "How the MPS treats victims goes to the very heart of what we do. It was important that this case did not result in such a wide duty being placed on police officers that it could direct them away from their core purpose of preventing and detecting crime. "All the claimants are receiving personal apologies from the MPS." MP Chris Bryant said: "I am delighted that the Metropolitan Police are finally admitting that they should have notified not just me but all the thousands of victims of the News of the World's criminality." He said: "It's a sadness that it has taken all this time to get the Met to admit that they should have notified all the victims - and that we had to go to court to secure that admission." The claimants' solicitor, Tamsin Allen, of Bindmans, said that at the time of the first investigation into phone hacking, "instead of warning the hundreds or thousands of victims of voicemail interceptions, the police made misleading statements which gave comfort to News International and permitted the cover-up to continue". She added: "If the police had complied with their obligations under the Human Rights Act in the first place, the history of the phone-hacking scandal would have been very different." Bindmans said the judicial review was launched in September 2010 and the claim was then "vigorously defended" by the Met. In a statement it said that "following the new police investigation into phone hacking, and revelations about the evidence in the hands of the police at the time of the first investigation, the police have finally accepted that they breached a legal obligation to warn the phone-hacking victims". In separate proceedings brought at the High Court by a number of well-known people against News International subsidiary News Group Newspapers, publisher of the now defunct News of the World, Lord Prescott and Mr Bryant accepted £40,000 and £30,000 respectively. Ben Jackson has accepted £40,000 and HJK £60,

Mail's "Private Eye" may have used criminal methods Editor says paper hired convicted investigator hundreds of times to get personal information By Ian Burrell The Independenbt Tuesday, 7 February 2012 Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, yesterday conceded that a private detective the paper commissioned hundreds of times may have been engaging in criminal activity. Challenged at the Leveson Inquiry into media standards over the paper's prolonged use of Steve Whittamore to obtain personal information, Mr Dacre said: "There was a prima facie case that Whittamore could have been acting illegally." But he said there was no evidence that the newspaper's journalists had broken the law in commissioning the detective. The editor had been invited by Lord Justice Leveson to consult a lawyer before responding to further questioning over the paper's use of Whittamore, who was convicted of data protection offences in 2005 after the Operation Motorman inquiry. Lord Justice Leveson told the hearing he was not convinced that all the illicit searches were in the public interest: "It seems to me that it's extremely difficult to justify some of the requests that were made." Robert Jay, QC, counsel to the Leveson Inquiry, told the hearing that the Motorman files showed that the Mail had paid £500 for the details of 10 "friends and family" numbers of the subject of one of its stories. Mr Dacre argued that such searches were necessary to "corroborate" news stories. During three-and-a-half hours of evidence, Mr Dacre was forced to listen to repeated criticisms of his newspaper. He was most clearly offended when Mr Jay suggested that the Daily Mail had only campaigned for the family of the murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence because the victim's father had once done plastering work at the editor's house. "Are you really telling me that I would risk going to jail, risk destroying my career, I would put my proprietor and my paper in that position, and that I couldn't take a principled stand against something I felt very strongly, and that was only because this man at some stage many years previously had done some plastering work for me?" Mr Dacre asked. "I really do find that insulting." Angered by a line of questioning he at one point denounced as "preposterous", Mr Dacre was obliged to defend his paper and "a company I love" over repeated attacks on its journalistic standards. Answering criticisms of his columnist Jan Moir's piece on the death of the singer Stephen Gately, he said: "I think the piece, the column, could have benefited from a little judicious sub-editing." But he maintained that "there is not a homophobic bone in Jan Moir's body". He also stood by his organisation for accusing Hugh Grant of a "mendacious smear" after the actor told Lord Justice Leveson that the Mail and the Mail on Sunday had been involved in phone hacking. "I have never placed a story in the Daily Mail as a result of phone hacking, that I know came from phone hacking," he said. Earlier in his evidence, Mr Dacre called for a new system of accrediting journalists; he said they should run the risk of having their press cards removed in the way that doctors are subject to being struck off by the General Medical Council. "I do believe there is an opportunity to build on the existing haphazard press card system," he said. "There are 17 bodies at the moment providing these cards. By transforming it into an essential kitemark for ethical and proper journalism, the key would be to make the cards available only to members of print newsgathering organisations or magazines who have signed up to the new body and its code." Mr Dacre suggested that journalists not carrying such a card would be barred from covering events such as key government briefings or interviews relating to sporting fixtures. "The public at large would know the journalists carrying such cards are bona fide operators, committed to a set of standards and a body to whom complaints can be made." He also argued that there should be a new self-regulatory body, standing alongside the Press Complaints Commission (PCC), to deal with press standards.

http://rockcenter.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/06/10323677-former-white-house-intern-mimi-alford-reveals-details-of-kennedy-affair Ms. Alford will be interviewed at length on NBC's Rock Center show this Wednesday at 9 PM Eastern 8 PM Central time. "Alford was first publicly outed in 2003 when historian Robert Dallek wrote 37 words about an unnamed intern who had an affair with Kennedy in his biography of Kennedy called An Unfinished Life. The New York Daily News identified her and Alford issued a simple written statement confirming her secret relationship. She faded into obscurity, but said that the secret eventually became too much to hold inside."

Leveson Inquiry: Scotland Yard probing more than 50 data intrusion cases Daily Telegraph 1:21PM GMT 06 Feb 2012 Police are investigating 57 separate allegations of computing hacking and 'data intrusion' under Operation Tuleta, the Leveson Inquiry heard today. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers told Lord Justice Leveson that officers are probing computer hacking and the 'blagging' of medical records on behalf of newspapers under Operation Tuleta. Some allegations date back to the 1980s and are related to historic Metropolitan Police investigations. Detectives are conducting a scoping operation to decide whether there is evidence to launch a full investigation. Ms Akers told the Leveson Inquiry that more than 800 "likely" phone hacking victims had now been identified by the force. She also told the inquiry that the investigation into alleged phone hacking - one of three major probes into alleged illegal activity - is approaching the "finishing line". Operation Weeting began last January after Scotland Yard received "significant" information from News International - publishers of the now-axed News of the World - relating to the interception of voicemails. Ms Akers, who is overseeing all three probes, indicated that Operation Weeting was coming to a close. She said: "We have a number of key witnesses that we will want to see and that process is ongoing now. It will take a few more months." Questioning her, Robert Jay QC asked her: "You're probably nearer to the finishing line than the starting gun, is that right?" She answered: "I'd like to think so, yes." The deputy assistant commissioner said 6,349 potential victims of phone hacking have been identified by name so far. The telephone numbers of 4,375 of them have been found in documents belonging to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. She told the inquiry, sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, that so far Operation Weeting had identified 829 "likely" victims - 581 have been contacted, 231 could not be contacted and 17 have not been contacted for "operational reasons", she said. "We have defined likely victims as those that have details around their names that would make it suggest to us that they had either been hacked or had the potential to be hacked," Ms Akers said. A total of 17 people have been arrested so far as part of Operation Weeting. No further action is being taken against two, with the remaining 15 currently on bail. Ms Akers said there are 90 people working on the operation, including 35 tasked with working with the victims. A total of 300 million emails that were originally thought to be lost have now been recovered and are being examined, Ms Akers said. She is also overseeing Operation Elveden, looking into allegations that NI journalists made "inappropriate" payments to police. She revealed the number of Scotland Yard officers assigned to the operation is set to increase. "We have 40 police officers and staff but we are going to grow the team to take account of the fact that we moved last weekend into an investigation into The Sun, or journalists within The Sun." There will eventually be 61 officers working on the operation, she said. Asked about the progress made so far, Ms Akers replied: "I am less confident in saying that we are near the end than the beginning of Elveden than I was when I made that comment about Weeting." The Met has faced heavy criticism over the phone-hacking saga which intensified after it failed to reopen inquiries in 2009 amid allegations that thousands of mobiles were intercepted by journalists at the former Sunday tabloid. Two of its most senior officers sensationally resigned over the scandal. Then commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson made his shock announcement after coming under fire for hiring former News of the World deputy editor Neil Wallis and accepting free accommodation at a luxury health spa worth thousands of pounds. Assistant commissioner John Yates handed in his notice the next day following a furore over his handling of a review of the initial hacking probe. A series of high-profile figures have been arrested in connection with police investigations, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson. Dan Wootton, former showbiz editor at the now-defunct News of the World, said when he joined the newspaper in February 2007, it was made "absolutely clear" that illegal activity would not be tolerated. "When I joined, obviously it was after Clive Goodman and Glenn Mulcaire had gone to jail, but myself and the rest of the staff were assured that that was an individual case," he told the inquiry. "I guess the main thing that was most important to me was that when I started it was made absolutely clear that that sort of behaviour would not be tolerated in any way under (then editor) Colin Myler." Mr Wootton said every story, no matter how trivial, would be read by at least four people before it was published. He said he got stories from celebrities themselves, their public representatives, agents, sometimes friends and family, but had never hacked phones. "I worked tirelessly to build up these contacts and to gain their trust," he said. "I have never hacked a phone, nor done anything illegal in the sourcing of my stories, and there has never been any suggestion that I am implicated in the wrongdoing at the News of the World." He said he always gave the subjects of his stories a right of reply - although sometimes the decision was taken above him not to, as it could jeopardise the story. "There is a need to protect exclusives so, even though I was a big believer in right of reply, in a small number of cases a decision would be taken above me - for commercial reasons usually - that it wasn't the right decision to give a right of reply, because there was a risk." Mr Wootton said if stories were provided to him by freelancers, he made sure they could be verified through valid sources. He said there were some areas where celebrities' privacy should be maintained, including sexuality, pregnancies, health matters, and issues involving their children or family. But he added: "The majority of the celebrities that I would write about were more than happy to be covered because they accepted it was part of the job and they loved their job." Mr Wootton, who now does work for the Daily Mail as well as a magazine and a TV show, said he was concerned by a suggestion he said actor Hugh Grant had told the inquiry that his American-based publicists had a blanket policy not to respond if newspapers gave them a right of reply. "I do believe a right of reply really should go both ways," he said. "If a newspaper is giving you the courtesy of a right of reply why should there be a blanket decision never to respond? "I often think it needs to be a two-way street." Sunday Mirror journalist Nick Owens also faced the inquiry today, and denied going on a "fishing expedition" for stories about celebrities undergoing cosmetic surgery. Mr Owens had a meeting with Chris Atkins, the director of documentary Starsuckers, in which he was told of a fictional contact at a clinic who could provide details about confidential medical information. The 2009 film planted invented celebrity stories in tabloid papers, Mr Atkins has previously told the inquiry. Mr Owens was told he could have access to information on cosmetic work undergone by high-profile celebrities, and discussed payment and a confidentiality agreement with Mr Atkins, the inquiry was told. David Barr, counsel to the inquiry, asked Mr Owens: "Doesn't this amount to a fishing expedition?" The tabloid reporter replied: "I wouldn't say it was a fishing expedition. It was just a meeting in this very informal environment between two people to see whether there would be anything at the end of it that we would want to get involved in publishing." He was then asked by Mr Barr: "The nub of it is that you expressed an interest in having confidential medical records and if you couldn't have those, you would settle for simply being told who had had what surgery?" Mr Owens replied: "I don't believe that this is the case. What I was trying to get clear in my mind was the information, the evidence this guy had." He said he did not persevere with the story after the meeting because he was concerned that Mr Atkins told him he would get his contact drunk in order to get information from her. Mr Owens did not mention his discussions with Mr Atkins to his newsdesk and they did not find out about it until Starsuckers was released. The Sunday Mirror's editor, Tina Weaver, then called Mr Owens into a meeting and told him he had "acted unwisely and made misjudgments", the inquiry was told.

Leveson inquiry: Sunday Mirror man denies he would buy medical records Nick Owens says he was only discussing possible celebrity stories with Starsuckers director in an 'informal' way By Lisa O'Carroll guardian.co.uk, Monday 6 February 2012 10.22 EST A Sunday Mirror journalist has denied to the Leveson inquiry that he was willing to buy celebrities' private medical records, after the person offering information revealed himself as a documentary-maker trying to hoax tabloids into running fake stories. Nick Owens told the inquiry on Monday he discussed cosmetic surgery stories with Chris Atkins in an "informal" way and when it became apparent he was trying to profit from them he decided he was going to expose him. The Leveson inquiry heard how publishing medical records is a breach of data protection laws. Owens had detailed face-to-face discussions with Atkins, who went on to make the movie Starsuckers. Atkins, who was secretly recording the meeting, had phoned the Sunday Mirror claiming he could get documentation on cosmetic surgery through a friend who worked as an "administrative nurse" in a London clinic. A transcript of the recording read out to the inquiry, and included in Atkins' earlier written witness statement, mentioned stories including "one of Girls Aloud having a boob job; Hugh Grant having a face tuck, Rhys Ifans having a tummy tuck and Guy Ritchie having a chemical peel". According to the transcript, Owens told Atkins that the Girls Aloud story was potentially "a very, very good story" and if it concerned Cheryl Cole he could expect a big payment. Owens was quizzed repeatedly about the enthusiasm he showed for the stories, despite admitting that he knew the issues of using private medical records for stories was very "sensitive". The reporter said he was "just reacting to a string of stories that have just been thrown at me" and that the transcript of a conversation three years ago should not be construed as a willingness to buy private records. He told counsel of the inquiry, David Barr, that he was "just having a general discussion about what evidence it was he could obtain" and reminded the inquiry that the paper "didn't publish anything at all". Barr put it to Owens that evidence of a celebrity "breast enlargement" might not have been used in itself, but armed with the inside information, it could be arranged "for the paper to take before and after shots". Owens replied: "I wasn't suggesting the paper go off and do anything at all and indeed we didn't." He then told Barr that he "went away [from the meeting with Atkins], thinking that we may need to expose what he was doing". The reporter said that when the Starsuckers documentary later came out, he admitted in a meeting with his editor, he had said "some unhelpful things". Earlier, the Leveson inquiry heard from the News of the World's former showbusiness editor Dan Wootton. Wootton said he did not like doing stories about Hugh Grant because he always seemed "pretty miserable" and he liked to write about celebrities that "like to be written about".

Whatever happened to Jack Worthington? Kathy C Jack in residing in New York City, still doing corporate mergers and acquisitions. About a week ago for the first time he visited his father's gravesite with its eternal flame in Arlngton Cemetery.

This news article brings to mind the story of my law client, Jack Worthington, who said that his mother told him as his putative father lay dying that his real father was JFK and that LBJ had arranged her one-time affair with JFK. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/jack200804