UK Police Investigating Email Hacking At The Times, Tom Watson Says

LONDON (AP) — Police are investigating alleged email interception by Rupert Murdoch's Times of London, a British lawmaker said Thursday — dragging Britain's oldest national newspaper into the broadening scandal over press wrongdoing.

Labour Party legislator Tom Watson, who helped lift the lid on tabloid phone hacking, released a letter from police confirming they were investigating alleged email hacking by The Times. Watson, a member of Parliament's Culture, Media and Sport committee, had written to police asking them to take up the issue.

The letter from Detective Supt. John Levett, head of the force's computer hacking investigation, is dated Jan. 25 and tells Watson that "the concerns raised within your letters are under investigation and officers ... are dealing directly with the victim."

The 226-year-old Times has acknowledged that a former reporter tried to intercept emails in 2009 to unmask an anonymous policeman who blogged as NightJack.

Editor James Harding told Britain's media ethics inquiry last month that the reporter had acted on his own and had been reprimanded. The paper later published the blogger's name, but Harding insisted it had been obtained by legal means.

London's Metropolitan Police confirmed Thursday that computer hacking investigators "are in contact with Mr. Watson in relation to specific issues he wishes to raise," but would not give further details or confirm the letter's authenticity. The Times declined to comment.

In the wake of the new development, Harding will be summoned back to give further testimony to the judge-led ethics inquiry.

Police are holding parallel inquiries into phone hacking, police bribery and claims of computer hacking by Murdoch papers, all of them triggered by the revelation that the now-defunct News of the World tabloid listened to mobile phone voice mails in its quest for stories.

The investigation has expanded to take in claims of illegal payments to police by staff of the News of the World and its sister tabloid, The Sun.

Murdoch's News Corp. has already admitted computer hacking, acknowledging that the News of the World hacked the emails of Chris Shipman, the son of serial killer Harold Shipman. It has apologized and paid Shipman damages.

Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old News of the World in July after the revelation it had eavesdropped on the cell phone voicemail messages of celebrities, athletes, politicians and even an abducted teenager.

The scandal has triggered a continuing public inquiry into media ethics and the relationship between the press, police and politicians.

More than two dozen people have been arrested by police — many of them journalists and executives of Murdoch newspapers.

The scandal has led to the resignations of several senior Murdoch executives and two of the London police force's top officers. An earlier police investigation failed to find evidence that hacking went beyond one News of the World reporter and a private investigator, who were both jailed in 2007 for eavesdropping on the phones of royal staff.

News Corp. has since acknowledged it was much more widespread, and allegations have spread to the Sun, Britain's best-selling daily — and now to the venerable Times.

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Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

• Phone Hacking/Bribery Scandal Timeline

  March 2002: Days after the disappearance of 13-year old Milly Dowler, British tabloid News of the World began intercepting Dowler's voicemail messages.

• April 2002

  Police first became aware that the paper was listening to Dowler's messages after it reported that an employment agency had called Dowler about a job vacancy, but didn't take action "partly because their main focus was to find the missing schoolgirl and partly because this was only one example of tabloid misbehaviour," according to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/04/milly-dowler-voicemail-hacked-news-of-world" target="_hplink">the Guardian</a>.

• November 2005

  A News of the World item about his knee injury lead Prince William to believe that his aides' voicemail messages were being listened to by a third party. Three royal aides also noticed that new voicemails were showing up as old. Months later, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05hacking-t.html?pagewanted=1" target="_hplink">New York Times reported</a>, News of the World editor Clive Goodman wrote a piece about Prince Harry's visit to a strip club that quoted a voice mail message from his brother William word-for-word.

• January 2007

  Goodman (right) and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire (left) received jail time for intercepting hundreds of voicemail messages meant for royal aides. The pair accessed the voice mailboxes of three aides 609 times, according to <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6301243.stm" target="_hplink">BBC News</a>. An earlier search of Mulcaire's home turned up "dozens of notebooks and two computers containing 2,978 complete or partial mobile phone numbers and 91 PIN codes; at least three names of other News of the World journalists; and 30 tape recordings made by Mulcaire," reports the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05hacking-t.html?pagewanted=all" target="_hplink">Times</a>, but the pair were only charged for hacking the royal aides.

• July 2009

  <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/08/murdoch-newspapers-phone-hacking " target="_hplink">New allegations from the Guardian</a> that NoW paid £1m to suppress evidence of phone hacking prompted Parliament to hold new hearings two years after News International exec Les Hinton (bottom left next to Murdoch) first testified that Goodman was the only person at NoW who knew about the hacking. At the new hearing, Coulson (top left) maintained that he was unaware of phone hacking during his time at NoW.

• September 2010

  A <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05hacking-t.html?pagewanted=1" target="_hplink">New York Times</a> piece alleged that phone hacking was pervasive at NoW and Coulson was aware of conversations about the practice, despite denying any knowledge about it. According to the Times: "'Everyone knew,' one longtime reporter said. 'The office cat knew,'" and reporters "described a frantic, sometimes degrading atmosphere in which some reporters openly pursued hacking or other improper tactics to satisfy demanding editors."

• January 2011

  Coulson stepped down as communications chief, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/21/andy-coulson-resignation-statement?INTCMP=SRCH" target="_hplink">blaming media speculation</a> that he knew about phone hacking during his tenure of NoW. News editor Ian Edmondson was fired after allegations of phone hacking, and new information prompted police to re-open the investigation on NoW.

• April 2011

  The News of the World admitted its role in phone hacking in a <a href="http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/notw/public/nol_public_news/1266448/News-International-statement-News-of-the-World-says-sorry.html" target="_hplink">public apology</a> on its website and paper. Former editor Edmondson and reporters <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/14/phone-hacking-james-weatherup " target="_hplink">James Weatherup</a> and Neville Thurlbeck were arrested on charges of intercepting voicemail messages.

• June 2011

  <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jun/23/milly-dowler-murderer-levi-bellfield" target="_hplink">Levi Bellfield</a> was found guilty of murdering Milly Dowler, but a second charge that he had attempted to abduct another schoolgirl was abandoned after tabloid publicity made it impossible for the jury to reach a fair verdict. News of the World paid Sienna Miller £100,000 in damages after publishing 11 articles that used private information from her messages in 2005 and 2006, according to the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/07/phone-hacking-news-of-the-world-sienna-miller">Guardian</a>.

• July 2011

  Police notified Milly Dowler's family that NoW <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/04/news-of-the-world-hacked-milly-dowler_n_889809.html" target="_hplink">intercepted and deleted</a> the young woman's voice mail messages, destroying possible evidence in the search for her killer. New evidence also shows that NoW targeted <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14040841" target="_hplink">families of London's 7/7 bombings</a>.

• July 8, 2011

  Andy Coulson, former communications chief to David Cameron and ex-editor of News of the World, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/08/andy-coulson-arrested-as-_n_893013.html#liveblog" target="_hplink">was arrested</a> in the investigation on phone hacking at NoW.

• July 10, 2011

  The News of the World released its final issue after James Murdoch, head of parent company News Corp's operations in Europe, made the decision to shutter the paper. The move was expected to "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/07/news-of-the-world-closing_n_892239.html" target="_hplink">take some of the heat off immediate allegations about journalistic behavior and phone hacking</a>."

• July 11, 2011

  <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/i-was-targeted-too-gordon-brown-to-say-2311980.html" target="_hplink">Multiple news</a> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/11/phone-hacking-news-international-gordon-brown" target="_hplink">outlets</a> reported that the Sun and the Sunday Times, also owned by parent company News International, had been hacking the voice mail box and other records of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown for years. The Sunday Times allegedly posed as Brown to obtain his financial records, and the Sun allegedly received details about Brown's son's cystic fibrosis. The <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/news-international-murdoch-gordon-brown-hacking_n_894588.html" target="_hplink">revelations</a> mark the first time allegations have targeted News International's other papers.

• July 11, 2011

  News Corp <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/11/news-international-murdoch-gordon-brown-hacking_n_894588.html" target="_hplink">referred its bid to take over satellite broadcaster BSkyB</a> to the Competition Commission, which will delay the deal by at least six months as the company awaits regulatory clearance. British leaders have called for Murdoch to drop the bid, with Labor Party leader <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2011/jul/11/news-world-hacking-scandal-live#block-33" target="_hplink">Ed Millibrand calling the deal</a> "untenable" and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110711/eu-britain-phone-hacking/" target="_hplink">Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg calling on News Corp</a> to "do the decent and sensible thing."

• July 13, 2011

  Rupert Murdoch <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/rupert-murdoch-news-corp-drops-bid-bskyb_n_896896.html" target="_hplink">withdrew its $12 billion bid for BSkyB</a>, the largest pay-TV broadcaster in Britain, after the British government withdrew its support the day before. The deal, which would have substantially increased Murdoch's foothold in the British media, appeared like it would sail through until last week. News Corp, which began to seek full ownership of BSkyB in March 2011, will keep its 39% stake in the company.

• July 14, 2011

  The FBI <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/fbi-news-corp-investigation_n_898653.html" target="_hplink">launched a probe into allegations that News Corp. attempted to hack the phones of September 11 victims</a> after Representative Peter King and other members of Congress wrote to FBI Director Robert Mueller demanding an investigation. Murdoch also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/phone-hacking-murdoch-parliament-inquiry-rebekah-brooks_n_897998.html" target="_hplink">agreed give evidence before a parliamentary committee</a>. He had previously said that he was not available to attend the hearing, but relented after receiving a personal summons delivered to him and his son by a deputy sergeant-at-arms.

• July 15, 2011

  <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203304576448291349364376.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLETopStories" target="_hplink">Les Hinton announced his resignation as Dow Jones CEO</a>, and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/15/rebekah-brooks-resigns_n_899570.html?ir=Media&just_reloaded=1" target="_hplink">Rebekah Brooks stepped down as chief executive of News International</a>. Brooks presided over the News of the World during the phone hacking of murder victim Milly Dowler, and is scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee next week. Murdoch also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20110715/eu-britain-phone-hacking/" target="_hplink">met with Dowler's family to apologize</a>.

• July 17, 2011

  Brooks was <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/07/17/rebekah-brooks-arrested-i_n_900899.html?ir=Media" target="_hplink">arrested</a> in connection with the scandal, throwing her scheduled appearance before Parliament on Tuesday into serious doubt. In addition, Sir Paul Stephenson, the head of Scotland Yard, resigned his position, becoming the highest-profile public official yet to lose his job because of the scandal. (The Met has itself been plunged into crisis for its lax handling of the scandal and for the corrupt ties police officers developed to News International.)

• July 18, 2011

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/18/britain-phone-hacking-scandal-resignations_n_901560.html" target="_hplink">John Yates, assistant commissioner of the British Metropolitan Police, stepped down</a> after the resignation of chief Paul Stephenson the previous night. The scandal has focused on British police for failing to investigate evidence of News of the World's phone hacking activities and for accepting bribes for information from tabloid writers. Yates decided not to reopen the investigation two years ago, saying he did not believe there was new evidence to consider.

• July 19, 2011

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/19/rupert-murdoch-parliament-rebekah-brooks-james-murdoch-phone-hacking_n_902316.html" target="_hplink">Rupert Murdoch, son James and former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks testified in front of a parliamentary committee</a>. All three insisted that they were not aware of phone hacking activities at the tabloid. Rupert Murdoch also made clear that he would not resign. Someone <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/19/rupert-murdoch-pie-video_n_903508.html" target="_hplink">attempted to pie Murdoch in the face with shaving cream</a>.

• July 21, 2011

  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/21/james-murdoch-misleading-parliament_n_906083.html" target="_hplink">A former editor and a top lawyer for the News of the World accused Murdoch of lying in his testimony </a>that he had no knowledge of phone hacking at the tabloid. The two recall showing him an email between private investigation Glenn Mulcaire and then-reporter Neville Thurlbeck with transcripts of hacked voice messages. <a href="http://www.thewrap.com/media/column-post/news-corps-sun-fires-editor-over-phone-hacking-connections-29320?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A thewrap%2Flatest-news %28The Wrap RSS%29" target="_hplink">Sun editor Matt Nixson was fired</a> following allegations that he knew about phone hacking during his time at the News of the World. The investigation also <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/21/phone-hacking-investigation_n_905741.html" target="_hplink">threatened to spread to other newspapers</a> that were named for using a private investigator to illegally obtain information.

• July 28, 2011

  The Guardian reported that the News of the World <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/28/news-of-the-world-sarah-payne_n_912003.html" target="_hplink">hacked the phone of Sara Payne</a>, the mother of an 8 year old girl who was abducted and killed by a pedophile. The 2000 murder had prompted Rebekah Brooks to launch a campaign for a sex offender's law in Britain now known as "Sarah's Law." The phone that the tabloid hacked may have been one that Brooks personally gave to Payne in the aftermath of the tragedy, which Payne had praised as for helping her "stay in touch with my family, friends and support network."

• August 16, 2011

  Clive Goodman, a former News of the World reporter, has alleged that there was a massive coverup of phone hacking at the tabloid. He was arrested for phone hacking in 2007, and now claims that former editor Andy Coulson offered to let him keep his job in exchange for saying that he was the only person at the tabloid who hacked phones. The allegations are deeply damaging to Coulson and Rupert and James Murdoch, who have all maintained that they knew nothing about phone hacking.

• August 18, 2011

  Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator hired by the News of the World to intercept voicemails, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/glenn-mulcaire-phone-hacking-lawsuit_n_930537.html" target="_hplink">sued News Corp.</a> over the payment of his legal fees. The company had been paying his fees since 2007 when he was found guilty of hacking the phones of aides to the royal family, but recently terminated the arrangement after Rupert and James Murdoch's testimonies in Parliament. Mulcaire himself is the target of dozens of civil lawsuits filed by suspected victims of phone hacking.

• August 19, 2011

  Glenn Mulcaire has been ordered to release the names of people <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/19/glenn-mulcaire-ordered-reveal-phone-hacking_n_931175.html" target="_hplink">who ordered him to hack the phones of six public figures</a>. He is due to make the disclosure by the end of next week, as part of actor Steve Coogan's lawsuit against News Group. The revelations threaten to blow the defense presented by News of the World editors, who claim they knew nothing about phone hacking.

• August 22, 2011

  News breaks that the News of the World <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/22/milly-dowler-news-of-the-world-hacking_n_933049.html" target="_hplink">hacked even more of Milly Dowler's voicemails than previously assumed</a>.

• August 26, 2011

  News International is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/08/26/glenn-mulcaire-reveals-ne_n_938343.html" target="_hplink">continuing to pay Glenn Mulcaire's legal fees</a>, despite the company's insistence that it would stop. The previous month, the private investigator <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/08/26/glenn-mulcaire-reveals-ne_n_938343.html" target="_hplink">had released the names of people who ordered him to hack phones</a>, but the names were kept confidential.

• September 13, 2011

  News International announces the discovery of thousands of new documents related to phone hacking.

• September 19, 2011

  Milly Dowler's family is slated to receive <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/neville-thurlbeck-slams-news-of-the-world_n_989189.html?1319826500" target="_hplink">£3 million in a settlement</a> with News Corp.

• September 30, 2011

  Neville Thurlbeck, a former News of the World reporter, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/neville-thurlbeck-slams-news-of-the-world_n_989189.html?1319826500" target="_hplink">insists that he is innocent and was unfairly dismissed</a>. His account contrasts News Corp.'s defense, which places Thurlbeck as the single rogue reporter responsible for phone hacking at the News of the World.

• October 5, 2011

  News International <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/14/news-corp-lawsuit-77-phone-hacking-parliament_n_962262.html?1319826382" target="_hplink">faces a lawsuit from the parent of a 7/7 London bombing victim</a>, among at least 60 other lawsuits.

• October 19, 2011

  Yet another lawyer <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/19/julian-pike-news-international-phone-hacking_n_1019620.html" target="_hplink">has accused News International of misleading Parliament over its knowledge of phone hacking</a>. Julian Pike, a partner of the firm that used to represent the company, said that he saw evidence that there were more journalists involved in phone hacking in 2008. His testimony came after the company signed with a new law firm and Pike was no longer bound by client-attorney privilege.

• October 21, 2011

  Rupert Murdoch faced angry shareholders at News Corp.'s annual meeting. Shareholder after shareholder vented frustration with the company, and Murdoch struggled to remain calm, losing his temper at one point.

• October 24, 2011

  James Murdoch<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/james-murdoch-parliament-nov-10_n_1028191.html?1319830547" target="_hplink"> has been called back to testify in front of Parliament for the second time</a> on November 10. His testimony will focus on discrepancies in his account, given witnesses who have said that he signed off on phone hacking payouts to Gordon Taylor.

• October 24, 2011

  Les Hinton, the former CEO of Dow Jones, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/24/les-hinton-parliament-hacking-wsj_n_1028023.html?1319830551" target="_hplink">testified about phone hacking</a> in front of Parliament. The former publisher of the Wall Street Journal, who had previously testified on phone hacking in 2007 and 2009, denied that he misled Parliament in his past testimonies. He resigned in the summer, and was the most senior executive claimed by the scandal.

• October 25, 2011

  James, Lachlan and Rupert Murdoch were all re-elected to the board of News Corp. despite <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/10/25/a-third-of-news-corp-inve_n_1029860.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">huge shareholder opposition to their leadership</a>. Their tenure was never in doubt, due to the company's shareholder structure, but the majority of shareholders voted against James and Lachlan.

• November 1, 2011

  A <a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/romenesko/152070/news-corp-hr-chief-steps-down/" target="_hplink">series of internal News International memos</a> could be damning for James Murdoch, who is set to testify in front of Parliament for the second time next week. One of the documents was prepared for a meeting between James Murdoch and Colin Myler, the former editor who challenged his account of events, and specifically discusses the hacked voice mails. The notes of Julian Pike, then-lawyer for the company, also contain incriminating phrases like "paying them off."

• November 10, 2011

  James Murdoch <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/10/james-murdoch-parliament-testimony_n_1085624.html" target="_hplink">testified on phone hacking in Parliament</a> for a second time. The younger Murdoch faced new evidence that he may have been aware of phone hacking at the time of his company's settlement with footballer Gordon Taylor. He maintained his innocence, claiming that he was aware that Taylor had been hacked, but that he was unaware the News of the World had targeted others.

• November 11, 2011

  Former News of the World reporter Neville Thurlbeck <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/dec/07/phone-hacking-glenn-mulcaire-arrested?newsfeed=true" target="_hplink">speaks out against News International</a>. He said that he had been trying to warn the company about phone hacking for the past two years -- during which time he said he also collected evidence of the illicit crime at the tabloid. Police seized those materials the same week. Thurlbeck, who had been arrested for phone hacking, continued to maintain his innocence.

• November 29, 2011

  Former News of the World features editor Paul McMullan <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/paul-mcmullan-at-leveson-_n_1118809.html" target="_hplink">gave an explosive and freewheeling testimony</a> about the extent of phone hacking at the British tabloid. He appeared to admit engaging in the criminal activity himself, implicated Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, and hinted that Piers Morgan had a hand in establishing the cutthroat culture where phone hacking eventually became commonplace. Among the crazier things he said were that he loved celebrity car chases before Princess Diana's death, and that "privacy is for paedos" (pedophiles).

• December 7, 2011

  Glenn Mulcaire was arrested.

• December 8, 2011

  New emails between James Murdoch, Colin Myler and Tom Crone could be damaging for Murdoch's defense. Murdoch reveals that Myler emailed him in 2008, asking for a meeting about the Gordon Taylor affair. Also attached to the message was a series of emails between Myler and Tom Crone, which referenced phone hacking and Glenn Mulcaire.

• December 20, 2011

  Piers Morgan <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/19/piers-morgan-testifies-phone-hacking-leveson-inquiry_n_1159521.html" target="_hplink">testified on phone hacking</a> to the Leveson inquiry. He maintained that he had never hacked a phone or ordered anyone to do so. His testimony grew a bit heated after he refused to describe the circumstances under which he had heard one of Paul McCartney's voicemails to Heather Mills.

• January 19, 2012

  Jude Law was one of 37 victims of phone hacking <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/19/news-corp-phone-hacking-settlements-jude-law_n_1215594.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">who received cash payouts from News Corp.</a> It was the largest group of settlements announced in the scandal thus far. Fifteen of the deals amounted to about $1 million. Law was one of sixty people who sued the company alleging that their phones had been hacked.

• January 31, 2012

  The Financial Times <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/31/news-corp-arrests-the-sun_n_1244517.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">reported</a> that the launch of News International's forthcoming publication -- a Sunday version of The Sun -- was pushed back due to arrests at another one of the company's properties. Rupert Murdoch denied the report on Twitter. Four journalists at the Sun were arrested on charges of bribing the police.

• February 11, 2012

  Hell is breaking loose for Rupert Murdoch's empire again -- this time, for <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/11/the-sun-arrests-police-bribery-murdoch-tabloid_n_1270214.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">illegal payments from journalists to members of the police</a>. Five employees at the Sun, and three civil servants were arrested on Saturday. Sources said that Murdoch plans to continue to publish the paper, and that he will be traveling to London to meet with staff members. The trip had been reportedly planned before the arrests occurred.

• February 13, 2012

  Picture shows an arrangement of copies of The Sun newspaper front pages on February 13, 2012. Rupert Murdoch's British tabloid The Sun <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/13/sun-kavanagh-arrests-tabloid_n_1272909.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">condemned</a> police raids against its journalists as a 'witch-hunt' worthy of former communist states, and won rare support from rival newspapers. AFP PHOTO / LEON NEAL (Photo credit should read LEON NEAL/AFP/Getty Images)

• February 17, 2012

  News Corporation Chief Rupert Murdoch leaves his London home, on February 17, 2012. Rupert Murdoch said on February 17 he will launch a Sunday version of his top-selling British tabloid The Sun 'very soon', as he sought to boost morale among staff left angry and hurt by a wave of arrests. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

• February 26, 2012

  News Corporation Chief Rupert Murdoch holds up a copy of the newly launched 'The Sun on Sunday' newspaper as he leaves his London home on February 26, 2012. Rupert Murdoch's Sun on Sunday tabloid hit news stands on Sunday, replacing the defunct News of the World with a pledge to meet high ethical standards after a 'challenging' chapter in its history. AFP PHOTO/CARL COURT (Photo credit should read CARL COURT/AFP/Getty Images)

• February 28, 2012

  British police gave former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks a retired police horse to look after, it was confirmed on Feb. 28. The Metropolitan Police insisted it was not a gift horse. They said it was loaned to Brooks under a program that allows people to care for retired service animals.

• February 29, 2012

  James Murdoch <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/29/james-murdoch-steps-down-news-international_n_1309953.html?ref=media" target="_hplink">steps down</a> as the executive chairman of News International. He weathered speculation that he would resign for months since News Corp.'s phone hacking scandal broke in July 2011. He is resigning amidst continued allegations of phone hacking, and new explosive charges of bribery at the Sun.

• March 13, 2012

  Rebekah Brooks, former chief executive of News International, and her husband Charlie <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/13/rebekah-brooks-husband-arrested-phone-hacking-probe_n_1340961.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">were arrested</a> along with four other people. The arrests were made on "suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice."

• March 14, 2012

  James Murdoch expressed 'great and real regret' over phone hacking <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/james-murdoch-regret-letter-phone-hacking_n_1344588.html?ref=phone-hacking" target="_hplink">in a new letter</a> to Parliament.

• April 24, 2012

  Former News International chairman James Murdoch adjusts his tie as he arrives at the High Court to give evidence to The Leveson Inquiry on April 24, 2012 in London, England. This phase of the inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press in the United Kingdom is looking at the owners of various media groups. Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corp, will give evidence tomorrow. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

• April 26, 2012

  News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch (L) and wife Wendi Deng (R) are driven away from the High Court in central London on April 26, 2012 after Rupert Murdoch's second and final day of giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry. Rupert Murdoch admitted on April 26 there was a 'cover-up' over phone hacking at Britain's News of the World tabloid but tried to shift the blame away from himself and senior executives at his media empire. AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS (Photo credit should read JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP/GettyImages)

Comments

[abbadabba]

03:59 PM on 02/06/2012

Netflix is saving "Starsucker" for me if the 2009 film is ever released. Max Mosely is supressing it with an injunction. But that portion of transcript at Leveson is quite damning of Owens, a reporter for the Sunday Mirror. He sure sounds like he's hot to get his hands on medical records of celebrities to me. Hah! Punker got punked!!

[abbadabba]

03:52 PM on 02/06/2012

Hmmm...No evidence has been found that Surrey police were paid to give NoW Milly's phone number. Not surprised as NoW told Surrey police they got the number from Milly's friends at school. They approached Surrey police with their convoulted and deluded story Milly was working for a temp agency and tried to get police to stand it up for them so they could run a story with the intercepted emails. I guess Surrey felt they had to clear their name?

[abbadabba]

03:13 PM on 02/06/2012

Hmmm...I wonder who the journalist the police want to question is? He's "abroad." I don't know what gender the journalist is, but who does it sound like? In relation to the other arrests at the Sun...

[abbadabba]

02:44 PM on 02/06/2012

There's that "cooperation" crock, again. The officer in charge of the investigations says at Leveson that because NewsCorp and News International are voluntarily cooperating police are not permitted to seek a warrant.

This is the same BS that prevents the DOJ from demanding depositions and evidence of corporations, here. Gretchen Morgenson's article "In Shift, Procecutors Are Lenient as Companies Break the Law" explains that in 2008, corps used their power to suggest that as long as they run their own internal investigations, bring forth evidence of wrong doing and correct the behavior that lead to that behavior, they can negotiate the price of justice. Just in time to protect the mortgage and foreclosure frauds. Thanks, Bush! Justice

With so much evidence that NewsInternational used this farce twice to deny their criminality and allow it to continue, no wonder NewCorp is throwing us some bones. How can they prove they aren't keeping the best bones for themselves? Under this kind of law, they don't have to.

[datenutloaf]

12:48 PM on 02/06/2012

I knew it!

The Tom and bobbie show........

Murdoch farts---Tom comments, and bobbie tries to defend.

[bobbiewick]

12:59 PM on 02/06/2012

You will have the second-to-last-laugh in a little while when this story dies, Murdoch is still in place, and Fox News is completely unaffected by any of this.

There is so little drama happening at the moment that you and all the other point-missers are actually trying to pretend it is about the other posters.

[datenutloaf]

01:01 PM on 02/06/2012

Thanks for proving my point, sweetie.

[abbadabba]

10:41 AM on 02/06/2012

Those inerested in the story of the three firms that sued News America Marketing costing over a half billion dollars to bury NewsCorp's criminality will enjoy David Carr's work at the NYTs.

[abbadabba]

10:55 AM on 02/06/2012

Be sure to read all of them!

[slocomgp]

10:30 AM on 02/06/2012

Tom Sutpen
A for-real Socialist
655 Fans Become a fan
12 hours ago (10:03 PM)
Why should he leave a country which services his interests with greater dedication than any
other?
===============
Why do you find it necessary to respond to every comment? Are you worried about Murdoch? LOL

[bobbiewick]

10:39 AM on 02/06/2012

Why shouldn't he respond to comments that need a response? Are you against free speech on these boards?

[abbadabba]

10:45 AM on 02/06/2012

Defending Tom? I think you are the same poster. I know you say, "no," but it's hard to tell the difference. Two bullies trying to shut down discourse.

Sure, no one's going to stop you, but what is your game? "Surrender to the unstoppable machine?"

[slocomgp]

10:48 AM on 02/06/2012

Not against free speech, though it seems tom is.

[westral]

12:14 AM on 02/06/2012

It seems highly improbable that unethical conduct would be limited to only one or two Murdoch outlets, the old proverb applies - fish rot from the head.

[Tom Sutpen]

04:26 AM on 02/06/2012

That's a woefully unoriginal argument.

[abbadabba]

10:19 AM on 02/06/2012

As is you constant criticism of any poster. Tom, you have a problem. Only YOUR POV and collective wisdom are allowed here? Those not as informed as you are to be bashed for that difference? OMG, you are the opposite of a teacher. You discourage comment and insult those attempting to understand, which makes me think that's your job, here.

[LiberalLee]

10:34 AM on 02/06/2012

But very probably true.
Murdoch takes sleaziness to new height every week. And the rot is endemic

[bobbiewick]

10:37 AM on 02/06/2012

It's not improbable at all, actually. Hacking -- and other reportorial hijinks -- have long been a standard behavior in most if not all UK newsrooms. In other words, these behaviors are a British thing, and not just a Murdoch thing.

[Ozarks]

11:11 AM on 02/06/2012

Read Jude Law settlement on USA hacking, Read Civil and Criminal Complaint by USA Corp. Floorgraphics on Computer hacking which has much heftier USA (RICO and others too many to mention) criminal statutes awaiting Rupert and his "Seniors and Directors" already admitted ( read latest 37 Disclosed Settlements) criminal conspiracies.

[grandpamike]

11:04 PM on 02/05/2012

When will our Justice Dept have an announcement about the same happening here in his country ? Maybe if a Kardashian somehow heard that her phone was tapped, maybe then Eric Holder and company would act.

[Tom Sutpen]

04:16 AM on 02/06/2012

No. They won't The Justice Department . . . indeed, this country's power structure (which includes both parties . . . has too much to lose if a wide-ranging investigation of News Corp. were conducted. There's also the small matter of whether News Corp. employees in the United States have actually committed criminal offenses. So far there's no indication of it. Another thing: 'News of the World' wasn't tapping phones; they were hacking into voice-mail messages (a practice committed by just about every newspaper in the UK, including the 'Guardian'). As a crime, it's pretty small-time stuff.

[LiberalLee]

10:35 AM on 02/06/2012

How much do they pay you?

[7dr361]

09:12 PM on 02/05/2012

murdoch might be better to leave the country think about it take hannity O'really anr the mob with you...............

[Tom Sutpen]

10:03 PM on 02/05/2012

Why should he leave a country which services his interests with greater dedication than any other?

[LiberalLee]

10:36 AM on 02/06/2012

Because we'd like to get rid of ALL the sleazes at once.
Murdoch's a pig. Leaving now might save him a prison sentence in the end.
Although I'd rather see him and Ailes behind bars.

[cardholder]

03:28 PM on 02/05/2012

The day before they closed the News of the World, in the UK, Murdoch left an important meeting in Idaho to go support Rebeccah in Britain, and said something about wanting to "contain" the hacking problems before they crossed the Atlantic to the U.S.. He was not able to do that, even though the paper was shut down. The question remains whether the 9/11 victims families were hacked, or the police were bribed here. The FBI opened an investigation and I must presume that the investigation is ongoing. Anything that Murdoch and his family touches is suspect.

[Tom Sutpen]

04:42 PM on 02/05/2012

The FBI didn't open anything. They were asked by Scotland Yard to conduct interviews with respect to the possibility that 'News of the World' employees had hacked into the voice mail accounts of 9/11 victims families (what 9/11 victims' families would have to say that could be of interest to anyone is, of course, a question for another time). That was in July. Unless they threw the request out the nearest window, it's safe to assume that the Bureau has already conducted those interviews and turned over the material to Scotland Yard. As for your opening bit, could you give us a link to anything which says Murdoch lost all sense by saying, within the hearing of anyone, that he wanted to contain anything? I can imagine his thinking it; I cannot imagine him saying anything like that aloud. You must have gotten that from one of the usual suspects here, because those are the only people I can think of who routinely project their own incompetence and lack of common sense onto others.

[Theatrixnyc]

10:08 AM on 02/06/2012

because those are the only people I can think of who routinely project their own incompetence and lack of common sense onto others.
**
Until you pass a Mirror, and then you remember one more.

[Iccarus]

01:10 PM on 02/05/2012

Wow! What a mug, and money for nothin and his news fact free, lookit that lookit that...he's got it stickin in the camera, yeah buddy, that's his own face....sorry, I guess he's in dire straits.

[coolgarfield]

01:19 AM on 02/05/2012

what is that pic? looks like a jurassic age fleshbag! dang thats who controls our print and tv!

[Tom Sutpen]

02:02 AM on 02/05/2012

He is an unsightly sight for eyes of any condition . . . but . . . Rupert Murdoch doesn't control either print or television press in the United States; outside of two newspapers of any measurable circulation (as well as a bunch of penny-ante sheets, not one of which can be found outside the New York area) and one Cable News Channel which, though far and away the most commercially successful in its field, is watched by no more than1-3% of the American public. With the exception of Fox Business Channel, one of the least successful Cable channels in existence, all his other media holdings are entertainment oriented. Other words, he controls news media in America only to the degree that you want him to.

[Theatrixnyc]

10:09 AM on 02/06/2012

That's what greed and corruption will do to a complexion.

[Tom Sutpen]

01:07 PM on 02/06/2012

Age might have something to do with it as well.

[Ron in NYC]

10:44 PM on 02/04/2012

The Huff Post headline I'm waiting for is FOX NEWS CRUMBLES. Shouldn't be too long now.

[Tom Sutpen]

12:22 AM on 02/05/2012

Explain how that can happen?

[Ron in NYC]

03:52 AM on 02/05/2012

I can't. You seem to be the authority on the subject, but I can dream, can't I?

[Ozarks]

11:59 AM on 02/05/2012

RICO

[Ron in NYC]

10:39 PM on 02/04/2012

I'm shocked! (Not!)