Douglas Caddy Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Sketch: Leveson grills the 'champagne coppers' Michael Deacon watches the latest events at the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking and media ethics. The Telegraph By Michael Deacon, Parliamentary Sketchwriter 7:01PM GMT 01 Mar 2012 Ever wonder why you hardly ever see bobbies on the beat any more? The reason’s quite simple: they’re all too busy chomping lobster in celebrity restaurants. Or so you might have concluded from listening to the ex-Met policemen who appeared at the Leveson Inquiry today. John Yates, the former counter-terror chief, seems to have dined out more often than Michael Winner. Robert Jay QC took him through the many glamorous dinners listed in his diary while he was Assistant Commissioner. The Ivy, Scott’s, Scalini, Racine… All with his friends in journalism, most prominently Neil Wallis, then a senior editor at the News of the World. As in, the newspaper that the Met had been investigating – with strikingly little success – over phone hacking. Not that there was anything untoward about these fancy dinners, Mr Yates took pains to make clear: when he was with Wallis they tended just to talk about football. Harmless laddish fun. Work didn't really come up. Mr Yates wasn’t actually present at the inquiry – he was speaking via video link from Bahrain. He is not there, as you might have assumed, to complete a Michelin Guide to the Persian Gulf’s finest restaurants, but to oversee reform of the country’s police force. Sitting in a black swivel chair, staring out at the courtroom from a giant screen, he looked like a Bond villain about to announce his dastardly plan to destroy us all with a missile launched from his volcano lair. Mr Yates is not, of course, a cackling villain hell-bent on our annihilation, although even if he were I don’t think we’d need to worry unduly about his chances of succeeding. He spent much of the time squirming clammily, like an Edwardian youth accused of scrumping apples. “I know you’re cross, Mr Jay, but…” His most embarrassing moment came when it was revealed that the News of the World had ordered a female journalist to get a scoop out of him by “calling in all those bottles of champagne”. Mr Yates defended himself hotly. “That’s just a turn or phrase,” he protested, three times. Had he ever drunk champagne with that journalist? Mr Yates spoke carefully. “There may have been the odd occasion when a bottle was shared between several people…” Next in for questioning – this time in person – was Andy Hayman, who led the original investigation into hacking in 2006. Last summer, when Mr Hayman appeared before a select committee on hacking, one MP called him “a dodgy geezer”. Perhaps she was alluding to his broad Cockney accent and wideboy jocularity (“OK, beat me up for being upfront and honest!”). Today, though, we met a different Hayman. This one was quiet, earnest, bespectacled, and above all deferential. His evidence was “sir” this, “sir” that, as if he were a humble gamekeeper doffing his cap to the squire. “Thank you, sir… With respect, sir… My instinctive answer, sir… I can’t remember, sir…” All three of the ex-Met policemen questioned – the other was Peter Clarke, formerly Deputy Assistant Commissioner – agreed that while the original investigation was taking place they’d been so caught up with foiling terrorists that hacking seemed relatively trivial. “I feel terrible for the victims of phone hacking,” piped up ’Umble Andy ’Ayman, “but I’d rather be facing questions about that than about loss of life.” Terrorists must be kicking themselves. “I told you we should have sent them some champagne!” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Horsegate: I did ride Rebekah Brooks's police horse Raisa, says David Cameron Prime Minister David Cameron has finally admitted riding Rebekah Brooks’s ex-police horse, and apologised for three days of “confusion” about the affair. By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent The Telegraph 11:47AM GMT 02 Mar 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9118305/Horsegate-I-did-ride-Rebekah-Brookss-police-horse-Raisa-says-David-Cameron.html The embarrassing admission raises questions about the closeness between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, the former tabloid editor who quit as chief executive of News International at the height of the phone hacking scandal last summer. It emerged on Tuesday that Mrs Brooks was lent a retired police horse by the Metropolitan Police for two years. The horse, called Raisa, was stabled at Mrs Brooks's farm in the Cotswolds from 2008 to 2010, before she was handed back to Scotland Yard. Despite sustained questioning from The Daily Telegraph since Tuesday, Downing Street had refused to say whether Mr Cameron had ridden the horse. At a press conference in Brussels, Mr Cameron finally made clear that he had ridden the horse with Charlie Brooks, Mrs Brooks’s race horse trainer husband, before the 2010 election. Does it matter that David Cameron rode Rebekah Brooks's horse? Mr Brooks, a columnist with The Sunday Telegraph, is an old friend from when the pair attended Eton public school. Mr Cameron said: “Let me shed some light on it. I have known Charlie Brooks, the husband of Rebekah Brooks for over 30 years, and he is a good friend. “He is a neighbour in the constituency, we live a few miles apart. I have not been riding with him since the election. “Before the election I did go riding with him. He has a number of different horses and yes one of them was this former police horse Raisa, which I did ride.” Mr Cameron apologised for failing to come clean earlier, when The Daily Telegraph first started asking questions. He added: “If a confusing picture has emerged over the last few days, I am very sorry about that. I think my staff have had to answer a lot of questions about horses.” The Prime Minister added that he was sad to learn that Raisa, who was given back to Scotland Yard in 2010, had since died. He said: “I am very sorry to hear that Raisa is no longer with us and I think I should conclude that I won't be getting back into the saddle any time soon.” Rebekah Brooks, the former Sun editor, was one of the only 12 people allowed to adopt a horse from Metroplitan Police Mounted Branch After three days of refusing to say whether Mr Cameron had ridden the horse, aides disclosed on Thursday night that in all probability he did, although he could not be sure as he rode several of Mr Brooks' horses. One of the Prime Minister’s aides said: “It is highly possible that he was on that horse. It is likely that he rode that horse. He used a number of Charlie’s horses.” She also confirmed that it was possible Mr Cameron had also gone riding with Mrs Brooks, because he could not be “100 per cent sure” that he had not. The aide said: “He has no recollection of ever going riding with Rebekah Brooks.” The Daily Telegraph has established that the horse was lent to Mrs Brooks in 2008 following discussions with Dick Fedorcio, the Met Police’s director of public affairs. Raisa was returned to the care of Scotland Yard in early 2010, before the general election, and put out to pasture in Norfolk. She died a few months later. Labour MP Tom Watson said Raisa threatened to symbolise the cosy friendship between the key players embroiled in the phone hacking scandal. He told The Daily Telegraph: “This horse is becoming the symbol of this scandal. It shows how powerful media players and politicians got too close.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Horsegate: David Cameron 'not straight' over links with News International The Telegraph By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent 2:50PM GMT 02 Mar 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9118889/Horsegate-David-Cameron-not-straight-over-links-with-News-International.html David Cameron has been accused of not being straight about his close links with News International after he finally admitted riding Rebekah Brooks’s ex-police horse. The Prime Minister apologised for three days of “confusion” about the affair. The embarrassing admission raises questions about the closeness between Mr Cameron and Mrs Brooks, the former tabloid editor who quit as chief executive of News International at the height of the phone hacking scandal last summer. Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman said: "People will be dismayed that while News International was busy hacking phones, David Cameron was out hacking with Rebekah Brooks's husband. "David Cameron has not been straight about just how close he was to senior executives at News International and it's time for him come clean about the extent of this relationship." It emerged on Tuesday that Mrs Brooks was lent a retired police horse by the Metropolitan Police for two years. The horse, called Raisa, was stabled at Mrs Brooks's farm in the Cotswolds from 2008 to 2010, before she was handed back to Scotland Yard. Despite sustained questioning from The Daily Telegraph since Tuesday, Downing Street had refused to say whether Mr Cameron had ridden the horse. At a press conference in Brussels, Mr Cameron finally made clear that he had ridden the horse with Charlie Brooks, Mrs Brooks’s race horse trainer husband, before the 2010 election. Does it matter that David Cameron rode Rebekah Brooks's horse? Yes, it is illustrative of his close ties to News International executives Yes but not that much, it was before he was Prime Minister No, it's just a horse VoteView ResultsShare This Mr Brooks, a columnist with The Sunday Telegraph, is an old friend from when the pair attended Eton public school. Mr Cameron said: “Let me shed some light on it. I have known Charlie Brooks, the husband of Rebekah Brooks for over 30 years, and he is a good friend. “He is a neighbour in the constituency, we live a few miles apart. I have not been riding with him since the election. “Before the election I did go riding with him. He has a number of different horses and yes one of them was this former police horse Raisa, which I did ride.” Mr Cameron apologised for failing to come clean earlier, when The Daily Telegraph first started asking questions. He added: “If a confusing picture has emerged over the last few days, I am very sorry about that. I think my staff have had to answer a lot of questions about horses.” The Prime Minister added that he was sad to learn that Raisa, who was given back to Scotland Yard in 2010, had since died. He said: “I am very sorry to hear that Raisa is no longer with us and I think I should conclude that I won't be getting back into the saddle any time soon.” Rebekah Brooks, the former Sun editor, was one of the only 12 people allowed to adopt a horse from Metroplitan Police Mounted Branch Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, a member of the so-called Chipping Norton set, had claimed that Mr Cameron had never ridden the horse in question. Contradicting Downing Street's confirmation that the Prime Minister did ride Raisa, Mr Clarkson told Chris Evans on BBC Radio 2: "I can categorically state that he never rode that horse. I do actually live there. It's all rubbish." Mr Clarkson, who writes newspaper columns for News International titles The Sun and The Sunday Times, was speaking before Mr Cameron himself admitted that he had ridden Raisa. "I saw that horse and it wasn't badly treated as some people were saying, it was beautifully treated, it was only there for a very short time and David Cameron never rode it," Mr Clarkson said. He added that he himself had never ridden it but Mrs Brooks "probably did and her husband did". After three days of refusing to say whether Mr Cameron had ridden the horse, aides disclosed on Thursday night that in all probability he did, although he could not be sure as he rode several of Mr Brooks' horses. One of the Prime Minister’s aides said: “It is highly possible that he was on that horse. It is likely that he rode that horse. He used a number of Charlie’s horses.” She also confirmed that it was possible Mr Cameron had also gone riding with Mrs Brooks, because he could not be “100 per cent sure” that he had not. The aide said: “He has no recollection of ever going riding with Rebekah Brooks.” The Daily Telegraph has established that the horse was lent to Mrs Brooks in 2008 following discussions with Dick Fedorcio, the Met Police’s director of public affairs. Raisa was returned to the care of Scotland Yard in early 2010, before the general election, and put out to pasture in Norfolk. She died a few months later. Labour MP Tom Watson said Raisa threatened to symbolise the cosy friendship between the key players embroiled in the phone hacking scandal. He told The Daily Telegraph: “This horse is becoming the symbol of this scandal. It shows how powerful media players and politicians got too close.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dolva Posted March 4, 2012 Share Posted March 4, 2012 “This horse is becoming the symbol of this scandal. It shows how powerful media players and politicians got too close.” - because I'm cynicaI I wonder where this is heading. I mean who really doubts that politicians and powerful media get close? The problem is what they do in order to manipulte the perception of truth amongst the masses. Is this guy suggesting that if some rules or something be put in place by the very system that depends on its survival on this? running dog - jk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 News Corp. Staving Off a Scandal The New York Times By AMY CHOZICK March 4, 2012 Last Monday, British investigators said that News Corporation’s British tabloid, The Sun, had participated in widespread bribery to “a network of corrupted officials.” Then on Wednesday, the widening inquiry into illegal activity at News Corporation’s British newspapers led to James Murdoch’s resignation as head of the company’s embattled British publishing unit. What happened back in New York? News Corporation’s stock went up. The wave of incriminating headlines and the surging stock price reflect the cognitive dissonance generated by News Corporation’s phone hacking scandal. Even while Rupert Murdoch, the company’s chairman and chief executive, has doubled down on one of the newspapers at the center of the worsening scandal, creating a new Sunday edition of The Sun, investors have been cheering the possibility that the negative news in Britain could prompt the company to spin off its newspapers. Last Tuesday, Chase Carey, News Corporation’s chief operating officer, said at a Deutsche Bank media conference in Palm Beach, Fla., that within the company “certainly there are a number of parties who feel — would push to looking at a way to spin the publishing business separate from the rest.” James Murdoch’s resignation from News International inextricably links Mr. Carey to the British newspapers, properties he technically oversaw before but had little interest in, according to people with knowledge of the internal dynamics at the company. News International’s chief executive, Tom Mockridge, will now report directly to Mr. Carey, having previously reported to James Murdoch. “Chase has no exposure whatsoever to the newspaper business, and Mockridge is a straight arrow,” said one of the people, who like the others requested anonymity to speak candidly about the company. “Either Chase learns the business, or they spin off the papers and Mockridge runs the new company.” A News Corporation spokeswoman pointed to Mr. Carey’s defense of the newspapers at the conference in Florida, in which he said: “Our focus right now is in managing these businesses and improving their profitability.” Wall Street has long disliked News International, publisher of The Sun and the closed News of the World. The unit accounts for less than 3 percent of News Corporation’s profits and brings outsize troubles. Analysts estimate that the cost of legal fees and settlements related to the hacking crisis could reach $1 billion. News Corporation has a market capitalization of $49 billion. Other than newspapers, the company’s assets like the Fox network, the Fox studios and cable channels like FX accounted for nearly 90 percent of its $2.9 billion in profit in the six months that ended Dec. 31. “Wall Street would love it even if negative news drove to a sale or separation of the newspaper group,” said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst at BTIG. On Friday, News Corporation closed at $20.15, up 46 percent from a 52-week low of $13.83 reached last summer at the height of the revelations about phone hacking at News of the World. Shares have gained about 10 percent in the last 12 months. The company is unlikely to spin off its newspapers as long as Mr. Murdoch, who turns 81 next week, runs the company. He is often said to have newspaper ink in his veins. “He’s not even considering that path,” said one former executive at News Corporation who requested anonymity to talk about internal debates at the company. On Feb. 26, Mr. Murdoch introduced The Sun on Sunday, partly to make up for the lost revenue at the closed News of the World, where reporters repeatedly hacked into voice mails. The creation of The Sun on Sunday, which Mr. Murdoch said sold 3.26 million copies in its first week, also sent a message to News Corporation executives that, like it or not, Mr. Murdoch was sticking with the British publishing business. (The company has not discussed spinning off News Corporation’s print assets in the United States like The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones & Company, and The New York Post, according to people with knowledge of discussions within the company.) “He’s a combative guy,” Barton Crockett, a media analyst at Lazard Capital Markets, said of Mr. Murdoch. “He’s going to fight hard to stay relevant in the publishing business in the U.K., and I think investors are somewhat fearful about that.” To ease investors’ concerns about the print business, News Corporation in July approved a $5 billion stock buyback program led by Mr. Carey. As of Feb. 7, the company had bought $2.7 billion of its own Class A shares. Last week Mr. Carey said he planned another buyback when the current one ends in June. “We certainly have an undervalued stock, to me a woefully undervalued stock,” Mr. Carey said at the Deutsche Bank conference. “We think of another buyback to make sense.” James Murdoch, Rupert’s younger son, has long been viewed as his father’s heir apparent. James now works from News Corporation’s New York headquarters, a move first announced last March. As the company’s deputy chief operating officer, he oversees the company’s lucrative international pay-cable channels like Star TV in Asia, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. News Corporation predicts that Fox International Channels will bring in $1 billion in operating income by the fiscal year 2015. “The Fox International business plus the Star India business, which is run separately and reports directly to James Murdoch, we are the leaders in the international markets amongst the U.S. multinational media,” David Haslingden, president and chief operating officer of Fox Networks Group, told analysts at a conference the day James Murdoch resigned from the publishing unit. James’s position in New York does not sit well with some shareholders who have called for his removal from News Corporation’s board. “Responsibility for this debacle ends with the board,” said Michael Pryce-Jones, a spokesman for the CtW Investment Group, a shareholder activist group in Washington that works with pension funds for large labor unions like the Teamsters. “This is a governance issue, and obviously much of the burden falls upon James given his role as a key executive.” There is no clear end in sight to the scandals embroiling the company, as British investigators continue to inspect documents turned over by News Corporation’s management and standards committee. If the accusations of bribes authorized by “people at a very senior level within” The Sun to elected officials, the British police and the military are true, it could lead to heightened scrutiny in America. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act makes bribery of international officials by American companies and their foreign subsidiaries a criminal offense. In a statement released last Monday, Rupert Murdoch said the bribery practices explained in the investigation were “ones of the past, and no longer exist at The Sun.” That defense signaled that he saw a future for his besieged tabloid. “Rupert is unlikely to make decisions when backed into a corner,” said Doug Mitchelson, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities. “If they ever spun off print, it’d be because he fixed it and wanted to highlight the value of print, not to remove the cancer from the organization.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Horsegate: PM David Cameron urged to investigate 12 month 'cover-up' by Downing Street David Cameron is being urged to investigate allegations that Andy Coulson covered up the fact that the Prime Minister was a riding partner of the husband of former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks. By Christopher Hope, Senior Political Correspondent The Telegraph 1:59PM GMT 05 Mar 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9123628/Horsegate-PM-David-Cameron-urged-by-Tom-Watson-to-investigate-12-month-cover-up-by-Downing-Street.html Tom Watson, the campaigning Labour MP, has written to the Prime Minister asking why his former press aide allegedly misled journalists over the affair over a year ago. However, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman on Monday told reporters at the morning Westminster press briefing there were no plans to probe the claims, and he would not raise the issue with Mr Cameron. The Prime Minister was last week forced after days of questioning by The Daily Telegraph to admit that he had ridden a horse loaned to Mrs Brooks by the Metropolitan police with her racehorse trainer husband Charlie Brooks. On Sunday the Mail on Sunday claimed that it had been misled over the affair, after first raising the suggestion with Mr Coulson towards the end of 2010. In his letter, Mr Watson said: “Following the persistent questioning by Mr Christopher Hope, of The Daily Telegraph, last week, you have admitted to frequently riding the Metropolitan police horse, Raisa, with the husband of Rebekah Brooks. “Yesterday, the Mail on Sunday claimed journalists were misled when they put similar questions to your press team last year. I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions. “The Mail on Sunday claim they put a series of suggestions regarding horse riding in the company of Mr Brooks that were denied by Mr Andy Coulson. Did Mr Coulson discuss the matter with you before issuing the denial?” Mr Watson also asked: “At what times last week did Downing Street staff raise the concerns of journalists with you? What steps are you taking to establish whether the reports are true? “You are on record as saying that, whilst working for you, Mr Coulson did ‘an excellent job in a proper, upright way at all times’. If the investigation finds this claim is inaccurate, what steps are you taking to ensure that other potential incidents of wrongdoing are investigated? “If these reports are true it would be a sign of, at worst, a culture of dishonesty developing in Downing Street or, at best, a failure by yourself to ensure [that] the highest standards of integrity are maintained by your staff. In either case, how do you propose to address this?” The Prime Minister’s official spokesman on Monday said that there no plans to investigate the claims. He said he would not raise it with the Prime Minister because he was going home at lunchtime. The spokesman appeared to try to distance Downing Street from Mr Coulson, saying: “He is no longer an employee of the Government. We are not talking about someone who is currently an employee of the Government. “You are asking me about allegations relating to a phone conversation that may have taken place a year ago.” The Mail on Sunday claimed that it had first asked Mr Coulson, former editor of The Sun and former head of communications at Downing Street, about rumours that Mr Cameron went riding with Charlie in late 2010. It said Mr Brooks, an old friend from Mr Cameron’s Eton school days, had been giving Mr Cameron tips at riding with a hunt. But Mr Coulson categorically denied that the Prime Minister had ever ridden with Charlie Brooks. The newspaper reported that he stated that “Mr Cameron had not had lessons from Mr Brooks and had not been riding with him”. Last week Mr Cameron was forced to admit after days of questioning from The Daily Telegraph that he had indeed gone riding with Mr Brooks, on a retired police horse called Raisa which had been loaned to Rebekah Brooks by the Metropolitan Police. He told a press conference after a European summit: “Before the election I did go riding with him. He has a number of different horses and yes one of them was this police horse Raisa, which I did ride.” Last night, Mr Cameron’s aides attempted to distance themselves from any suggestion that they had tried to conceal the fact Mr Cameron went riding with Mr Brooks. One aide said: “I am absolutely certain we would not have given a categorical denial to something that was true. We would not have denied something that is true. I don’t know how that situation came about.” The aide said Mr Cameron rode with Mr Brooks on a “handful of occasions” although Mrs Brooks’ spokesman said the pair had ridden together “many times”. Downing Street also said Mr Cameron had not ridden to hounds in an official hunt since the nation-wide ban was introduced in February 2005. The aide said: “He has not taken part in hunting since that time.” It emerged last week that Mr Cameron rode Raisa several times, while Mrs Brooks, rode her only once because of the horse’s difficult temperament. Mrs Brooks said on Sunday that she had never ridden with Mr Cameron. For his part, the Prime Minister has insisted that he could not recall riding with Mrs Brooks. David Wilson, Mrs Brooks’ spokesman, said: “They have never ridden together. She is unequivocal – she has never ridden with David Cameron.” Mr Coulson did not return messages left on his mobile telephone on Monday. Letter from Tom Watson MP to the Prime Minister The Rt Hon David Cameron MP Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA 5 March 2012 Dear Mr Cameron, Following the persistent questioning by Mr Christopher Hope of the Daily Telegraph last week, you have admitted to frequently riding the Metropolitan police horse, Raisa, with the husband of Rebekah Brooks. Yesterday, the Mail on Sunday claimed journalists were misled when they put similar questions to your press team last year. I would be grateful if you could answer the following questions. The Mail on Sunday claim they put a series of suggestions regarding horse riding in the company of Mr Brooks that were denied by Mr Andy Coulson. Did Mr Coulson discuss the matter with you before issuing the denial? At what times last week did Downing Street staff raise the concerns of journalists with you? What steps are you taking to establish whether the reports are true? You are on record as saying that, whilst working for you, Mr Coulson did "an excellent job in a proper, upright way at all times." If the investigation finds this claim is inaccurate, what steps are you taking to ensure that other potential incidents of wrongdoing are investigated? If these reports are true it would be a sign of, at worst, a culture of dishonesty developing in Downing Street or, at best, a failure by yourself to ensure the highest standards of integrity are maintained by your staff. In either case, how do you propose to address this? I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely Tom Watson Member of Parliament for West Bromwich East Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 AP Sources: FBI's News Corp. Probe Goes To Russia Updated: Monday, 05 Mar 2012, 3:29 PM EST Published : Monday, 05 Mar 2012, 11:54 AM EST NEW YORK - The FBI is investigating whether a Russian billboard company once owned by media giant News Corp. bribed local officials to get sign placements approved, part of a growing probe of Rupert Murdoch's company that stems from a scandal in the U.K. The expanding investigation of News Corp. properties -- besides the British tabloids accused of phone hacking and bribery of public officials -- is typical of a U.S. probe of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The 1977 act allows the Justice Department to levy hefty fines on U.S.-based companies for ill-gotten profits that come from bribing foreign officials. Two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the FBI will examine operations at former News Corp. subsidiary News Outdoor Russia. The two people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation. Investigators are trying to establish whether there is a pattern of bribery and corruption at News Corp. outlets abroad, they said. A spokesman for News Corp. in New York declined to comment. The Wall Street Journal, a News Corp. newspaper, earlier reported on the FBI probe. Michael Koehler, a law professor at Butler University, and former legal adviser to businesses on the FCPA, said such a probe could take years and cover many News Corp. properties around the world. In past cases where it has found wrongdoing, the Justice Department has imposed fines of up to double the amount of illicitly gained profits, he said. "The breadth and scope of conduct is going to be one factor for the enforcement agencies in deciding how to resolve a case like this," he said. The investigation grew out of Britain's phone hacking scandal, which revealed that journalists at News Corp.'s News of the World tabloid illegally eavesdropped on politicians, celebrities, sports stars and even crime victims --all in the service of scoring scoops. That led to separate investigations in Britain covering the bribery of public officials for scoops and computer hacking. More than 20 people have since been arrested in the bribery probe, including journalists from News Corp.'s The Sun and now-shuttered News of the World. None have been charged. News Corp. sold its 79 percent stake in News Outdoor Russia in July along with a similar business in Romania for a combined $360 million. The sale does not prevent U.S. agencies from fining the company for profits reaped in the past through bribes. Read more: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/ap-sources-fbs-news-corp-probe-goes-to-russia-030512#ixzz1oIJUqViA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 News Corp dropped top US anti-bribery lawyer from its legal team Amid possible US prosecution, leading expert on FCPA stopped advising Murdoch empire soon after he was hired this summer By Ed Pilkington in New York guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 March 2012 17.35 EST News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's media empire that is under investigation by the FBI for possible violation of US anti-bribery laws, is no longer being advised by Mark Mendelsohn, one of the world's leading experts on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Mendelsohn was taken on by News Corp last July to head its legal team, advising the company on how to prepare for potential prosecution under the act as a result of the UK phone-hacking scandal. But the Guardian has learned that he was let go almost as soon as he was hired. Mendelsohn was brought on board by Murdoch amid the maelstrom that followed the Guardian's revelation that the News of the World had hacked into the mobile phone of missing teenager Milly Dowler. His hiring by News Corp came first reported just two weeks after the Dowler story broke by one of Murdoch's own newspapers, the Wall Street Journal. The newspaper said he had been retained from Paul Weiss, the international legal firm where he has worked as a partner since leaving the justice department in 2010. Mendelsohn has consistently been reported over the past eight months to be acting as a leading legal adviser to News Corp on FCPA. However, his formal relationship with the company ended last summer, shortly after he was taken on by the firm. Under the FCPA, companies headquartered in the US, such as News Corp, are liable to prosecution if they can be shown to have engaged in bribery of officials in foreign countries for company gain. The company is facing allegations that its British newspapers, the Sun and the defunct News of the World, engaged in payments to police officers and other public officials that amounted, the Leveson inquiry heard recently, to a network of corrupted officials. Past penalties under FCPA include the record-breaking pursuit of Siemens AG that settled for $800m in 2008, and a case that was first exposed by the Guardian and led to a criminal fine of $400m in 2010 against the British arms company BAE Systems for sweeteners paid to a Saudi prince. Both those cases were prosecuted by Mendelsohn when he was heading the department of justice's fraud section between 2005 and 2010. Between those years he developed the FCPA from being a relatively minor and infrequently used law to being a powerful prosecutorial weapon. He is specifically credited as having devised the aggressive approach to enforcement of the FCPA that now threatens News Corp with massive fines and possible imprisonment of its executives. To have him on board at News Corp was considered a huge bonus for the company as it faces the rippling transatlantic consequences of the UK phone-hacking scandal. But the Guardian understands that Mendelsohn had barely begun to advise the company before he was let go. It is not clear why such a serious player in this part of the law should have been retained and then released by News Corp in such quick succession. Mendelsohn himself did not respond to questions from the Guardian, and News Corp declined comment. A source with understanding of the internal workings of News Corp said Mendelsohn's rapid departure was connected to the legal strategy put together by Joel Klein, the former head of New York City's public education system whom Murdoch has entrusted with managing the phone-hacking crisis from the company's Manhattan headquarters. When Mendelsohn was taken on, Klein simultaneously brought in the law firm Williams & Connolly to act as legal firefighters, and it is possible that as roles were clarified Mendelsohn was edged out. Mike Koehler, an expert in FCPA law at Butler university, said it was plausible that there might have been an internal turf war over who took the lead in handling the company's response to the FCPA investigation. But he was surprised that Mendelsohn had come and gone so suddenly. "The pace of the scandal was rapid-fire last July. But even so when you hire a person of the calibre of Mark Mendelsohn, who used to lead the justice department's FCPA project, and then shortly thereafter say you don't need his services – that's unusual." The US authorities began an investigation under the FCPA in the wake of the Milly Dowler story. The US attorney general, Eric Holder, announced he was initiating a preliminary inquiry into whether News Corp had breached the anti-bribery law last July – the same month as Mendelsohn was hired. In recent weeks the FBI is understood to have interviewed several top News Corp executives. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports that News Corp's FCPA woes have spread around the globe. The newspaper says the FBI is investigating a former Russian subsidiary called News Outdoor Russia and alleged bribes paid to local officials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Phone hacking: Home Office briefed in 2006 The Telegraph 3:26PM GMT 05 Mar 2012 Former home secretary John Reid received two briefing papers about Scotland Yard's phone-hacking investigation the day after News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman's arrest, the Leveson Inquiry heard. olice prepared one document for Dr Reid and the second was written by the private secretary to the Home Office's permanent secretary, the hearing was told. Neil Garnham QC, counsel for the Metropolitan Police, said both briefing notes were dated August 9 2006, the day after officers swooped on Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Former Scotland Yard anti-terror chief Peter Clarke – who oversaw the 2006 News of the World investigation, known as Operation Caryatid – gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry on Thursday about how Dr Reid was kept informed. He was asked whether his discussion with the then-home secretary made it clear that the range of phone-hacking victims was "far wider than the royal household" and that other journalists "might well" have been involved. Mr Clarke replied: "I think it did. I don't remember the exact content of that discussion. "I know that a briefing paper went from the Metropolitan Police to the Home Office, and that Dr Reid was aware of it and it was on the basis of that that he asked me some questions in the margins of another meeting, a meeting actually about the airlines terrorist plot." But Dr Reid told The Guardian on Friday: "I can categorically say that I did not receive any briefing from the Met suggesting that there was widespread hacking including MPs and the deputy PM." Mr Garnham said today that the police briefing paper for Dr Reid has now been provided to the Leveson Inquiry, and efforts are under way to find the internal Home Office document about the phone-hacking investigation. The press standards inquiry is currently looking at relations between police and the press, and will next examine links between politicians and newspapers. Chairman Lord Justice Leveson observed: "This is about the extent to which the police kept the Government informed about Caryatid ... "It is obviously very important, not least because of the interplay between this part of the inquiry and the next part of the inquiry." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Former Met head Lord Condon slams hacking investigation The Indepedent By Sam Marsden Tuesday 06 March 2012 Former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Lord Condon retired head of Scotland Yard today criticised his former force's failure to investigate fully allegations of widespread phone-hacking at the News of the World. Lord Stevens told the Leveson Inquiry he hoped he would have been "quite ruthless" about pursuing claims in 2009 that the illegal practice was far more prevalent than previously believed. Fellow former Metropolitan Police commissioner Lord Condon said he was "very disappointed and concerned" by issues about the behaviour of Scotland Yard officers exposed by the press standards inquiry. Scotland Yard's original phone-hacking investigation resulted in the jailing of News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire in January 2007 after they admitted intercepting voicemail messages left on royal aides' phones. But the Met was widely criticised for failing to reopen the probe after the Guardian published a story in July 2009 alleging there were more journalists and many more victims involved in the case. Lord Stevens, who was head of Scotland Yard from February 2000 to February 2005, told the Leveson Inquiry today: "Like Paul Condon, I have been disappointed with what has taken place. "I would like to have thought that the issues with the Guardian that were raised, I would have picked up as commissioner. "If they had been picked up then, I think I would have been quite ruthless about pursuing it." Lord Stevens terminated a contract to write a column for the News of the World at £7,000 per article in October 2007 over concerns about the phone-hacking convictions and other "unethical behaviour" at the paper, the inquiry heard. "I would never have written the articles if I had known what I now know," he said. "By terminating the contract with five articles to write, I was throwing away money, but that didn't worry me." The inquiry heard that Lord Stevens dined with former News of the World executive editor Neil Wallis both privately and for work. On two occasions their wives were present as they discussed the former policeman's charity, Convoy 2000. Lord Stevens said his relationship with Mr Wallis was "totally professional" and would not have affected any decision to investigate the News of the World. "I am afraid if it comes to enforcing the law, any relationship has to go to one side," he told the hearing. "If there is evidence to pursue in terms of any criminal activity, whether it be phone-hacking, corruption or otherwise, that has to be pursued." The former commissioner also had meals with then News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, who was always trying to persuade him to support her campaign for a "Sarah's Law" giving parents the right to know if a paedophile was living nearby, the inquiry heard. Lord Stevens also accused former home secretary David Blunkett of briefing the media against him. He said: "Every now and again I was seeing headlines saying he was going to sack me and things like that, which of course had never been said to my face. "I found that quite difficult, especially as we were getting superb results." Asked whether he was saying that Mr Blunkett was briefing the press behind his back, the former commissioner said: "Yes." The inquiry heard last week that a number of senior Met officers dined at fine restaurants and drank champagne with News of the World journalists after the paper was investigated for phone-hacking. News of the World crime editor Lucy Panton was told by her newsdesk in 2010 to "call in all those bottles of champagne" to get inside information about a terrorist plot from John Yates, Scotland Yard's then head of counter-terrorism. Lord Condon, who was Met commissioner from 1993 to 2000, told Lord Justice Leveson today: "Based on what is in the public domain, primarily from what has happened in your inquiry, sir, I have been very disappointed and concerned by some of the issues that have emerged. "And had I still been involved in the service, I would have been probably very angry." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) Lord Stevens quit paper over 'unethical behaviour' The former head of Scotland Yard has revealed how he quit his News of the World column after hearing of “unethical behaviour” at the now defunct Sunday paper. By Mark Hughes, Crime Correspondent The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/leveson-inquiry/9126270/Lord-Stevens-quit-paper-over-unethical-behaviour.html Lord Stevens told the Leveson inquiry that he quit the column, for which he was paid £7,000 per article, in October 2007 – nine months after the convictions of Glenn Mulcaire and Clive Goodman. But he refused to divulge exactly the allegations he heard. He said: “When the convictions were taking place, certain other information was coming to my ears which just [meant] I did not want to do it. In hindsight I would have never written the articles if I’d known what I know now.” Pressed on what “other information” he was referring to Lord Stevens replied: “It revolved around some unethical behaviour in relation to one or two articles that had got the headlines in the News of the World.” Despite suggestions that phone hacking at the paper went wider than one “rogue reporter” the Metropolitan Police refused to re-open the investigation until last year, twice declining to re-investigate after articles in the Guardian in 2009 and the New York Times in 2010. Lord Stevens, who ran the Metropolitan Police between 2000 and 2005, also appeared to criticise the failure of Sir Paul Stephenson and John Yates to re-open the inquiry. He said: “I have been disappointed by what has taken place. I would like to have thought that the issues that the Guardian had raised I would have picked up as commissioner. If they had been picked up I think I would have been quite ruthless about pursuing it.” Lord Stevens said he had attempted to make relations between Scotland Yard and the press more open upon being appointed commissioner. He told the inquiry, however, that he fears that relations between officers and journalists have recently deteriorated, with police “terrified” to speak to reporters. He said: “What I have heard is people are absolutely terrified of picking up a phone or speaking to the press in any way, shape or form and I do not think that is healthy. “The press have a job to do they have delivered, particularly investigative journalism, some outstanding work and there has to be a relationship between the police and the press for the right reasons.” Lord Condon, who ran the force from 1993 to 2000, agreed. He said: “I would be worried about anything which suggested that any contact between the police and the media was almost inherently wrong, that the media are given some sort of pariah status and almost being in the same room as them is bad.” But Lord Condon said that relationships between police and the media should be professional. He said: "I think that while you are commissioner you have certain professional relationships and you make life more difficult for yourself if those relationships carry into friendships and a social life that goes with frindships." The inquiry has already heard that John Yates enjoyed a friendship with Niel Wallis, the deputy editor of the News of the World and that the pair enjoyed drinks and dinners together. Lord Condon added: "In my view hospitality can be the start of a grooming process which can lead to inappropriate and unethical behaviour." Edited March 6, 2012 by Douglas Caddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Knight Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 (edited) Two UK Murdoch journalists in apparent suicide bids ReutersBy Georgina Prodhan | Reuters – 13 minutes ago http://uk.news.yahoo.com/two-murdoch-journalists-apparent-suicide-bids-194711969.html LONDON (Reuters) - Two senior journalists working for Rupert Murdoch's News International have apparently attempted suicide as pressure mounts at the scandal-hit publisher of the now-defunct News of the World. Three sources close to the company told Reuters on Tuesday the two journalists at the Sun daily appeared to have tried to take their own lives. Investigations sparked by a phone-hacking scandal continue to expose dubious practices by present and past employees. Eleven current and former staff of the Sun, Britain's best-selling daily tabloid, have been arrested this year on suspicion of bribing police or civil servants for tip-offs. Their arrests have come as a result of information provided to the police by the Management and Standards Committee (MSC), a body set up by parent company News Corp to facilitate police investigations and liaise with the courts. The work of the MSC, which was set up to be independent of the conglomerate's British newspaper arm News International, has caused bitterness among staff, many of whom feel betrayed by an employer they have loyally served. "People think that they've been thrown under a bus," one News International employee told Reuters. "They're beyond angry - there's an utter sense of betrayal, not just with the organisation but with a general lynch-mob hysteria." News International is facing multiple criminal investigations and civil court cases as well as a public inquiry into press standards after long-simmering criticism of its practices came to a head last July. Politicians once close to Murdoch, including Prime Minister David Cameron, turned their backs on him and demanded answers after the Guardian newspaper revealed the News of the World had hacked the phone of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler. Police officer Sue Akers, who is heading three criminal inquiries into News International, said last week there appeared to have been "a culture of illegal payments" at the Sun. Staff at the tabloid have been under additional pressure for the past two weeks because they have also had to produce a Sunday paper, hastily announced by Murdoch to replace the News of the World. News International has increased the level of psychiatric help available to employees to help them cope. (editing by Tim Pearce and Robert Woodward) EDIT : One wonders whether said psychiatric help is available to upper management and the Murdochs.... Edited March 6, 2012 by Steve Knight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9128660/Horsegate-Deal-to-lend-Raisa-discussed-at-lunch-between-Lord-Blair-and-Rebekah-Brooks.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Knight Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Off-Com to challenge whether BSkyB is "fit and proper" to hold a broadcasting licence. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f3dd6456-6940-11e1-9618-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1oYPaCQsY Rupert Murdoch is facing a fresh challenge to his UK media business as it emerged that Britain’s communications regulator has escalated its probe into whether British Sky Broadcasting is a “fit and proper” owner of a broadcasting licence. Following preliminary investigations last year, Ofcom set up a dedicated team in January – dubbed “Project Apple” – to scrutinise material emerging from the Leveson inquiry and the police’s investigations into phone hacking and corrupting public officials, according to minutes released under a Freedom of Information Act request. The decision to set up a team dedicated to assessing whether BSkyB should still hold a broadcasting licence in light of the phone hacking scandal is a setback to James Murdoch, who has remained chairman of BSkyB, despite stepping down as executive chairman of News International last month. The probe is considering the status of both James Murdoch and News Corp, which holds a 39.1 per cent stake in BSkyB, as “fit and proper” persons to own the BSkyB licence. Should Ofcom rule against either of them, it could threaten James Murdoch’s position as chairman of BSkyB or start a process that would force News Corp, chaired by Rupert Murdoch, to cut its stake in BSkyB to a level where it was no longer deemed to control the company. Project Apple was discussed at a board meeting on January 24, according to the minutes released under the FOI request. The regulator also discussed the issue at a board meeting in late February, the minutes of which have not been released. BSkyB’s status to hold a broadcasting licence was also discussed in September and December, but only as part of the chief executive’s report. The decision to escalate the matter came at the beginning of the year on the back of dialogue between the regulator, politicians and the police. The regulator last July reassured politicians that it would continue to monitor whether BSkyB was “fit and proper” to maintain its licence in light of concerns over News Corp’s subsidiaries’ involvement in phone hacking in the UK. At the time the regulator made clear it did not have to wait for the end of the criminal investigation, nor was it necessary for any individual to be convicted for it to reach its conclusion. However, a decision on the “fit and proper” test is not expected until the Leveson inquiry and Metropolitan Police investigations are more advanced. Ofcom said on Thursday: “New evidence is still emerging from the various enquiries in relation to the hacking and corruption allegations. Ofcom is continuing to assess the evidence that may assist it in discharging its duties.” BSkyB declined to comment. Last summer Rupert Murdoch bowed to intense political pressure and withdrew News Corp’s planned bid to take full control of BSkyB after the company admitted public condemnation of phone hacking at his UK newspapers made the climate “too difficult”. The decision to abandon the 13-month pursuit of the UK satellite broadcaster, which would have cost £8.3bn or more, means the hacking scandal forced Rupert Murdoch not only to close his most widely read newspaper, the News of the World, but also curtailed his ambitions to consolidate his pay-television empire in Europe. News Corp has maintained its holding in the broadcaster, giving it the option of taking over BSkyB in the future. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Caddy Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 Police chief's comments may threaten fair trials for journalists The solicitor for Rebekah Brooks has questioned whether she would receive a fair trial after a “spectacular failure” allowed a senior police officer to give evidence about corruption allegations at News International. The Telegraph By Mark Hughes, Crime Correspondent 7:00PM GMT 08 Mar 2012 Writing in The Telegraph, Stephen Parkinson said that Miss Akers’ comments could threaten the right of journalists who have been arrested in the ongoing investigation to receive a fair trial. Last week Mrs Akers told the inquiry that there was a “culture of illegal payments” at The Sun newspaper. She said that the newspaper paid a “network of corrupt officials” for stories. The payments, Miss Akers said, were sanctioned by senior executives at the newspaper. This week it was revealed that the Attorney General is considering whether those remarks could amount to a contempt of court. Miss Brooks is one of 17 current and former News International journalists arrested in Operation Elveden, the Scotland Yard investigation into allegations of corrupt payments from journalists to police officers. Writing in The Telegraph, Mr Parkinson said: “There is no excuse for the spectacular failure that occurred last week. “Normally our system protects those who are suspects in criminal investigations reasonably well … It restricts the circulation of facts, comment and speculation about their guilt or innocent. “Last week, that did not happen – and it has not happened for much of the last seven months. Witnesses have been summoned before both parliamentary committees and the Leveson Inquiry. “As a result, much prejudicial material has come into the public domain.” Mr Parkinson, the head of criminal litigation at Kingsley Naopley, was particularly critical of Leveson Inquiry for allowing Paul McMullan to accuse Mrs Brooks of being the “criminal in chief”. He writes: “This was received uncritically. Mrs Brooks had been denied permission to be a core participant in the inquiry, so no one was there on her behalf to challenge the evidence.” He goes on to criticise Miss Akers’ testimony which she provided after being asked, Mr Parkinson says, to “provide a statement about the investigation into police corruption providing as much detail as possible …” Mr Parkinson adds: “DAC Akers took full advantage of that opportunity, alleging that there had been a culture at the Sun of illegal payments to a network of public officials ... She might not have mentioned names, but it did not take much to fill in the gaps.” Mr Parkinson claims that the comments have potentially prejudiced any future trial. He adds: “The judge will be bound to consider – if there is ever a prosecution – whether a fair trial is possible. Those of us representing the current and former journalists, particularly at the Sun, who bore the brunt of the prejudicial comments, will inevitably make the point that publicity of this kind does not fade from the memory.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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