Phone hacking scandal deepens

[Jan Klimkowski]

In the immediate wake of Scotland Yard setting up Operation Tuleta - see post #280 above - Sky News, a Murdoch organ, has published an exclusive with former British military intelligence operative Ian Hurst, accusing the Metropolitan Police of "endemic corruption".

Hmmmm. Threat and counter-threat from long time shagees, the spooks and the Murdoch empire?

Mr Hurst says his investigations point not only to the NOTW but other newspapers and beyond the media.

"Beyond the media" - gotta love that phrase.

Who could former military intelligence officer Hurst possibly mean?

'Met Police Tried To Cover Up Hacking'

9:50am UK, Sunday July 31, 2011

David Bowden, senior correspondent

The former Army intelligence officer at the centre of the latest hacking inquiry has told Sky News police tried to sweep his case under the carpet and accuses the Metropolitan force of endemic corruption.

Ian Hurst's computer was allegedly hacked by the News Of The World (NOTW) searching for details of an IRA informer.

Scotland Yard is launching an investigation into information allegedly gathered illegally from him by a private investigator who, it is alleged, was working for the tabloid.

Mr Hurst, who spent 12 years gathering information for the Government, said: "The private investigator has admitted that he placed a computer trojan on my hard drive and obtained, over a three-month period, all the email traffic coming in and out.

"He could access social media and ostensibly surveiled me for a given period."

Mr Hurst believes the hackers were looking for information on an informer for the IRA, called Steak-knife.

He has reams of documents relating to his case, which goes back to 2006, but he believes the police were reluctant to investigate properly at the time.

He said if they had acted then on the information they had, it would have stopped others from becoming victims.

"It's incredibly important that we understand the rationale for the decisions to effectively sweep this under the carpet," he said.

Mr Hurst claims it is more than just bad policing that allowed the gathering of information to go on for so long.

He said: "Fundamentally, what lays behind this whole cesspit - not since 2006, it predates it by many years before that - we're dealing with institutionalised corruption.

"It's endemic within the Metropolitan Police and that has to be dealt with."

Mr Hurst says his investigations point not only to the NOTW but other newspapers and beyond the media.

"Some of the clients that the private detectives were working for are large financial institutions, celebrities, major PR organisations.

"It's diverse. The client is the source. They're the people willing to pay large sums of money to obtain this unlawful information and if you don't address the source you can put 10, 50 private detectives away but you won't remove the demand for the information."

Scotland Yard is now running three separate investigations: one into phone interceptions, one into computer crime and the third into police corruption.

Meanwhile, Labour has called on Prime Minister David Cameron and his most senior colleagues to "come clean" about their dealings with the Murdochs.

Senior party figures have sent out a series of letters to Cabinet ministers with more than 50 questions they say have not been addressed by the coalition in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal.

[Magda Hassan]

New moves by British parliament to shield the Murdochs

By Robert Stevens
30 July 2011

On Friday, members of Parliament's Commons Culture Select Committee voted against recalling News Corporation Chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking and police corruption. Labour MP Tom Watson had called on Murdoch, the son of international media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and two ex-News of the World executives, former editor Colin Myler and the newspaper's ex-legal manager Tom Crone, to appear.


Myler and Crone had challenged the evidence that James Murdoch gave to the select committee last week. Murdoch was called to answer questions, alongside Rupert Murdoch, in his capacity as the chairman of News International (NI), the owner of the now defunct News of the World. News International is the British arm of Murdoch's News Corporation media empire.

Myler and Crone said that Murdoch was not telling the truth on how much he knew about the extent of telephone hacking at the News of the World.

In response to the allegation that Murdoch had misled Parliament, a criminal offence, John Whittingdale, the chairman of the culture committee, has merely written to Myler and Crone asking for clarification. "We've agreed to ask them to give us those extra details," he said, before adding, "When we have received this response we may well call them in."

More evidence of criminal activity is coming to light daily. On Thursday, the Guardian reported that News of the World may have illegally accessed the phone belonging to Sara Payne, the mother of eight-year-old murder victim Sarah Payne. The paper stated that police had informed Sara Payne that her details were in notes compiled by private detective Glenn Mulcaire while he was working for News of the World. The police have maintained as recently as this month that no details about Sara Payne had been found in Mulcaire's notebooks, computer records or audio tapes, in their possession from August 2006.

Sara Payne is not just another addition to the list of names whose phones and personal details have been illegally accessed. Following the abduction and murder of her daughter Sarah in July 2000, News of the World launched a campaign for a new "Sarah's Law," advocating the naming of paedophiles. The legislation was eventually passed by the then-Labour government.

The newspaper gave Sara Payne a mobile phone to be used, in the words of former News of the World editor Rebekah Brooks, "for the benefit of the campaign for Sarah's law." It is now alleged that this phone was then hacked.

The "farewell" edition of the newspaper included an article by Sara Payne, in which she wrote, "The News of the World proved it is a force for good." Payne also stated in the same piece, "there were rumourswhich turned out to be untruethat I and my fellow Phoenix charity chiefs had our phones hacked."

On Friday, Mulcaire, through his lawyers, officially denied suggestions he acted without orders from the newspaper. He said he was "effectively employed" by News of the World from 2002 as a private investigator and had not acted "unilaterally" in intercepting voicemails.

"As an employee he acted on the instructions of others," a statement said.

Despite the welter of information emerging that strongly points to criminality on a massive scale at News International, the main figures at News Corp appear confident they can ride out the storm. On Friday, the board of BSkyB, the UK telecommunications company the Murdochs are attempting to buy outright, confirmed that James Murdoch is to remain as company chairman.

The Murdochs rely on the fact that the British political elite and the police are seeking at all costs to prevent a serious investigation of the hacking of thousands of phones and the bribing of police officers, and block the bringing of criminal charges against the guilty.

Before embarking on a two-week holiday in a luxurious Tuscan villa, Prime Minister David Cameron made great play of launching a public inquiry before the parliamentary recess.

But this is a manoeuvre by someone closely implicated in the crisis through his four-year employment of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as his director of communications. The terms and remit of the inquiry had, moreover, been agreed by the leader of the Labour Party opposition, Ed Miliband.

Last week, it was reported that Lord Justice Leveson, who will head the inquiry, had attended functions with Rupert Murdoch's son-in-law.

On Thursday, Leveson said the inquiries will hold preliminary hearings in September and claimed he will report back within a year with findings. This will be 14 months after the Guardian went public with the revelations that the phone of murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler had been hacked in 2002 by News of the World, prompting the present crisis.

Leveson's inquiry won't report back until more than six years after a previous investigation, by the Metropolitan Police, found "no evidence" of wrongdoing at News International.

Such is the scope of the inquiry, which includes an examination of press ethics and practices in relation to the public, politicians and police, that a timetable of one year is very unlikely. Leveson hinted strongly that a 12-month report-back was not possible, saying he would strive to report back in that time frame but "not at all cost."

"The focus of the inquiry is the culture, practices and ethics of the press in the context of the latter's relationship with the public, the police and politicians," Leveson said.

In October, the inquiry will hold "seminars" on various topics such as the law, media regulation, the ethics of journalism and the practice and pressures of investigative reporting. Further seminars will then be held on the relationship of the press to police and politicians, on media plurality and cross-media ownership.

No investigation of the actual hacking at News of the World will be made until the Metropolitan Police have concluded their investigationbased largely on documents in their possession for more than five years and supposedly never examined!
Nobody is being held to account for anything.

It was announced Friday that Cameron will be asked questions on September 6, not by the Leveson inquiry but by the liaison committeemade up of the chairs of all the other Commons select committees. In a session of just 90 minutes duration, he will be asked about "government, politics and the media." Half of this short session will be devoted to questions on developments in Europe and their impact on the UK.

What is taking place is nothing more than the buying of time, whilst the central issues of the News of the World crisis are swept under the carpet. That is why the inquiry's remit is so ludicrously wide, and set to include an examination of the Internet and social media to boot.

The News of the World scandal exposes the intimate involvement of every institution of the capitalist state with the financial oligarchy represented by Murdoch. All the major parties, the government, Parliament, the courts, the police are implicated in criminal activity on an "industrial scale."

Successive governments have been transformed into something akin to wholly-owned subsidiaries of News Corp.

In just the 15 months since Cameron assumed office, cabinet ministers have officially held private meetings with Murdoch executives on more than 60 occasions. Taking account of social events, including receptions at party conferences, at least 107 meetings have been heldan average of over seven meetings a month.

Nothing could happen in top government circles that News Corp was not acutely aware of, including discussions relating to war strategy and national security. On two occasions, James Murdoch and former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks were given confidential defence briefings on Afghanistan and Britain's strategic defence review by the Defence Secretary, Liam Fox. A further briefing was held with Brooks, Rupert Murdoch and the Sunday Times editor, John Witherow.

Other meetings included a dinner between Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Rupert Murdoch within days of the government taking office. Hunt was later put in charge of overseeing News Corp's £8 billion attempted takeover of BSkyB. Another two meetings were held with James Murdoch regarding the takeover. Just before the Millie Dowler revelations broke, scuppering the deal for now, Hunt had given his approval to the takeover.

The Labour Party's relations with the Murdoch press were just as intimate. When Cameron faced questions in Parliament regarding his government's close ties with News Corp and Rupert Murdoch, he replied by referring to Labour's own relations with the billionaire. This included, as Cameron pointed out, former Prime Minister Tony Blair's trip to Australia prior to the 1997 election in order to solicit Murdoch's favour. Cameron said that he had released the details of the government's own meetings with News Corp/News International and called on Miliband to do the same, which he has still not done.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/jul201...-j30.shtml

[Jan Klimkowski]

New moves by British parliament to shield the Murdochs

By Robert Stevens
30 July 2011

On Friday, members of Parliament's Commons Culture Select Committee voted against recalling News Corporation Chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking and police corruption. Labour MP Tom Watson had called on Murdoch, the son of international media mogul Rupert Murdoch, and two ex-News of the World executives, former editor Colin Myler and the newspaper's ex-legal manager Tom Crone, to appear.

Meanwhile, in the time and space created by these pathetic non-investigations, the Murdoch Empire's sub-contracted shredder is working overtime.

Phone hacking: News International mass-deleted emails, tech firm says

HCL reveals News International's various requests for deletion but tells MPs it knew of nothing untoward

Patrick Wintour, political editor guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 August 2011 14.48 BST

The technology firm HCL has told the home affairs select committee it was aware of the deletion of hundreds of thousands of emails at the request of News International between April 2010 and July 2011, but said it did not know of anything untoward behind the requests to delete them.

HCL has sent the letter to the home affairs select committee chairman, Keith Vaz , revealing it had been involved in nine separate episodes of email deletion.

HCL says it is not the company responsible for emails on the News International system that are older than a couple of weeks. It says another unnamed vendor is responsible, but confirms it has co-operated with this vendor in deleting material.

Through a letter from HCL's solicitors Stuart Benson, the firm says: "My client is aware of nothing which appeared abnormal, untoward or inconsistent with its contractual role." It adds: "It is entirely for News International, the police and your committee as to whether there was any other agenda or subtext when issues of deletion arose and that is a matter on which my client cannot comment and something you will no doubt wish to explore direct with News International."

It stressed that since it was not the company that stored News International's data "any suggestion or allegation that it has deleted material held on behalf of News International is without foundation".

HCL identified three sets of email deletions in April 2010, including a deletion of a public folder of a live email system that "was owned by a user who no longer needed the emails".

A further 200,000 emails stuck in an outbox were deleted in May 2010 to restore email functionality. In September 2010 a further pruning of historic emails occurred to help stabilise the email archival system, which had been having "frequent outages" since November 2009.

In January 2011 HCL was asked about its ability to truncate a particular database in the email archival systems. HCL "answered in the negative and suggested assistance from the third party vendor". HCL stated no reason as to why it was unable to assist.

In February 2011 emails were deleted in an older version of Microsoft. Finally, in July 2011 HCL helped delete emails from the live system as relocation errors had occurred during migration from one system to the other.

HCL said it did not have the resources to review every set of deletions.

[Jan Klimkowski]

According to The Independent:

"Mr Coulson, David Cameron's media chief, who resigned in January as the phone-hacking scandal developed, was scrutinised by an experienced investigator with strong links to both the Security Services and to the newspaper group that owned the News of the World, which Mr Coulson had previously edited."

So, Coulson was vetted by a private freelance investigator with storng links both to British intelligence and News International?

I wonder why that was! (Not.) mallprint: :gossip:

Andy Coulson vetted by investigator linked to News International

Man who cleared the former editor for Downing Street was once paid by Murdoch

James Hanning, Jane Merrick and Matthew Bell
Sunday, 7 August 2011

Andy Coulson was cleared for work at No 10 Downing Street last year after an investigator who had also done work for News International (NI) carried out his vetting, the IoS can reveal.

Mr Coulson, David Cameron's media chief, who resigned in January as the phone-hacking scandal developed, was scrutinised by an experienced investigator with strong links to both the Security Services and to the newspaper group that owned the News of the World, which Mr Coulson had previously edited.

The revelation is certain to renew controversy about Mr Cameron's 2007 decision to appoint Mr Coulson months after the former journalist's resignation as editor of the paper when two men were sent to prison for phone hacking

The vetting process, which took place around the time of last year's election, gave Mr Coulson the green light to work alongside the Prime Minister in Downing Street and to see certain secret documents.

Last week, a former tabloid journalist and author, Wensley Clarkson, alleged on Newsnight that the investigator in question who is known to Mr Clarkson "would have used phone-hacking in the past" as one of his investigative tools. Now the IoS has learnt, independently of Mr Clarkson, that the person had done work for NI, a conflict of interest of which the PM is aware and knowledge of which is likely to cause embarrassment in Downing Street.

Last night, a No 10 spokesman said he had spoken to "several top security people" and issued a categorical denial that the work had been "farmed out" to a private investigator, but left open the possibility that someone working for the Security Services had done work for News International.

"It is pretty ironic, given what has happened recently," said Mr Clarkson last night. "For one thing, it calls into question the efficiency of the vetting procedure and, for another, it makes you wonder why the Security Services are not doing this stuff themselves from their own resources. But they're not likely to admit it, are they? I know the way the vetting world works. They just never admit things like this. I'm not in the least surprised to hear that Coulson would be vetted by a private individual, but I suspect most people assume the Security Services do their own donkey work, although they, like everyone else, are suffering from the current splurge of cuts."

Questions have been raised as to why Mr Coulson was not submitted for "Developed Vetting", the highest form of clearance, as soon as he started working in Downing Street. There was speculation this was the result of royal or Civil Service pressure, or that something might be unearthed that would prevent him being awarded clearance. Downing Street has said that his resignation from the News of the World (NOTW) had no bearing on any decision about his vetting status.

It was reported last week that senior officials working with Andy Coulson believed he did have the highest security clearance, raising questions over whether he was inadvertently granted access to the most sensitive information.

Mr Coulson underwent a total of three vetting procedures during his time working for David Cameron, yet it seems none uncovered serious concerns about the extent of phone hacking during his time as editor of NOTW (2003-07). At the time of his initial appointment in July 2007 to work with Mr Cameron in opposition, Mr Coulson was given a low form of clearance, which was reportedly handled by a branch of Control Risks, a private security company with good connections to the Conservative Party. Downing Street has declined to confirm that the company carried out the search, as does the company, now known as Sterling Infosystems. But a security expert last night questioned the wisdom of Mr Coulson being employed, even in opposition, if that was the case on the basis of the sort of search that this firm carries out.

Ambrose Carey, 49, who owns and runs an investigations company Alaco, said: "Control Risks Screening was the company you would call if you wanted a standard background check. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is absolutely entry level. It's what multinational companies do as a matter of routine on everyone from the receptionist upwards. They are good and respected, but the kind of investigation they do is the most basic. They'll check degrees and qualifications, essentially just box-ticking stuff.

"I would be amazed if that was the only check the Tories did on someone of Andy Coulson's seniority. A thorough 'due diligence' would require bespoke investigation canvassing as many people from the man's past to get as full a picture as possible. Background screening typically costs a few hundred pounds. But a full 'due diligence' report would typically cost a few thousand."

The final stage, unusually for someone of Mr Coulson's closeness to the Prime Minister, did not begin until six months after the election. The Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, has said that it was felt that Mr Coulson's security clearance level should be upgraded following a counterterrorism incident at East Midlands airport last October.

Sir Gus has warned about the danger of misunderstanding "the purpose of security vetting, which is about access to information not suitability for a job". In Mr Coulson's case, the Developed Vetting (DV) process, which Sir Gus said can take up to six months, was cut short by the media chief's resignation in January. The Security Services are in charge of DV, which is regarded with extreme seriousness. Having DV clearance would have enabled Mr Coulson to be shown the most secret of government documents.

Downing Street has said the ongoing vetting process had nothing to do with Mr Coulson's eventual resignation, and Mr Coulson denies having known that unlawful phone hacking was going on during his editorship of NOTW.

It was reported yesterday that Mr Coulson's predecessor as editor of the News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, who resigned as chief executive of News International last month, was still on the payroll, having been told by Rupert Murdoch to go travelling for a year until the phone-hacking scandal dies down. A News International spokesman said last night: "We decline to comment on the financial arrangements of any individual."

[Keith Millea]

Plus the article claims that Coulson is "still on the (NI) payroll, having been told by Rupert Murdoch to go travelling for a year until the phone-hacking scandal dies down".

Correction Jan:

It was reported yesterday that Mr Coulson's predecessor as editor of the News of the World, Rebekah Brooks, who resigned as chief executive of News International last month, was still on the payroll, having been told by Rupert Murdoch to go travelling for a year until the phone-hacking scandal dies down.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Keith -thank you.

Correction noted and post amended.

[Jan Klimkowski]

Scotland Yard's Spindoctor In Chief put on, ahem, gardening leave.

In addition to the Murdoch shenanigans, Fedorcio's Met Police Press Office has just been caught making highly misleading claims about the shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham.

Phone-hacking enquiry: Dick Fedorcio put on leave

Metropolitan police's director of public affairs put on extended leave until police hacking enquiry is over

James Robinson guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 August 2011 19.27 BST

Dick Fedorcio, the Met's director of public affairs and internal communication, has been put on extended leave pending the result of an investigation by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) into his conduct, it has emerged.

The IPCC said last month it would begin an inquiry into Fedorcio's dealings with Neil Wallis, a former News of the World assistant editor who was arrested in July as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into phone hacking.

That followed the revelation that Fedorcio had handed Wallis a two-day-a-month contract to assist the Met's press office in October 2009.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "To allow Mr Fedorcio to prepare for the IPCC investigation it has been agreed that he can work from home on a period of extended leave until the matter is resolved."

It is unclear why he has just been told to return home now rather than last month, when the IPCC inquiry was announced.

Wallis has been working in a PR capacity since leaving the paper in July 2009.

Fedorcio told the Home Affairs select committee that he would not have hired Wallis had he known he was to be arrested.

He also said he had not asked Wallis about phone-hacking at the paper before hiring him.

The close ties between News International, which owned the title until it was shut down in July, and the Met, have prompted concerns about the intimacy of the relationship between the two organisations.

Scotland Yard sources have said the hacking investigation is likely to run into next year.

[Magda Hassan]

Phone hacking: News of the World reporter's letter reveals cover-up
Disgraced royal correspondent Clive Goodman's letter says phone hacking was 'widely discussed' at NoW meetings


Nick Davies
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 August 2011 12.34 BST


The News of the World's former royal correpsondent, Clive Goodman, who was jailed over phone hacking. A letter from him claims phone hacking was widely discussed at the paper. Photograph: Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images
Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.

In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.

The claims are acutely troubling for the prime minister, David Cameron, who hired Coulson as his media adviser on the basis that he knew nothing about phone hacking. And they confront Rupert and James Murdoch with the humiliating prospect of being recalled to parliament to justify the evidence which they gave last month on the aftermath of Goodman's allegations. In a separate letter, one of the Murdochs' own law firms claim that parts of that evidence were variously "hard to credit", "self-serving" and "inaccurate and misleading".

Goodman's claims also raise serious questions about Rupert Murdoch's close friend and adviser, Les Hinton, who was sent a copy of the letter but failed to pass it to police and who then led a cast of senior Murdoch personnel in telling parliament that they believed Coulson knew nothing about the interception of the voicemail of public figures and that Goodman was the only journalist involved.

The letters from Goodman and from the London law firm Harbottle & Lewis are among a cache of paperwork published by the Commons culture, media and sport select committee. One committee member, the Labour MP Tom Watson, said Goodman's letter was "absolutely devastating". He said: "Clive Goodman's letter is the most significant piece of evidence that has been revealed so far. It completely removes News International's defence. This is one of the largest cover-ups I have seen in my lifetime."

Goodman's letter is dated 2 March 2007, soon after he was released from a four-month prison sentence. It is addressed to News International's director of human resources, Daniel Cloke, and registers his appeal against the decision of Hinton, the company's then chairman, to sack him for gross misconduct after he admitted intercepting the voicemail of three members of the royal household. Goodman lists five grounds for his appeal.

He argues that the decision is perverse because he acted "with the full knowledge and support" of named senior journalists and that payments for the private investigator who assisted him, Glenn Mulcaire, were arranged by another senior journalist. The names of the journalists have been redacted from the published letter at the request of Scotland Yard, who are investigating the affair.

Goodman then claims that other members of staff at the News of the World were also hacking phones. Crucially, he adds: "This practice was widely discussed in the daily editorial conference, until explicit reference to it was banned by the editor." He reveals that the paper continued to consult him on stories even though they knew he was going to plead guilty to phone hacking and that the paper's then lawyer, Tom Crone, knew all the details of the case against him.

In a particularly embarrassing allegation, he adds: "Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me." In the event, Goodman lost his appeal. But the claim that the paper induced him to mislead the court is one that may cause further problems for News International.

Two versions of his letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle & Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, has been redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.

The company also faces a new claim that it misled parliament. In earlier evidence to the select committee, in answer to questions about whether it had bought Goodman's silence, it had said he was paid off with a period of notice plus compensation of no more than £60,000. The new paperwork, however, reveals that Goodman was paid a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation as well as £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Watson said: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence." Murdoch's executives have always denied this.

When Goodman's letter reached News International four years ago, it set off a chain reaction which now threatens embarrassment for Rupert and James Murdoch personally. The company resisted Goodman's appeal, and he requested disclosure of emails sent to and from six named senior journalists on the paper. The company collected 2,500 emails and sent them to Harbottle & Lewis and asked the law firm to examine them.

Harbottle & Lewis then produced a letter, which has previously been published by the select committee in a non-redacted form: "I can confirm that we did not find anything in those emails which appeared to us to be reasonable evidence that Clive Goodman's illegal actions were known about and supported by both or either of Andy Coulson, the editor, and Neil Wallis, the deputy editor, and/or that Ian Edmondson, the news editor, and others were carrying out similar illegal procedures."

In their evidence to the select committee last month, the Murdochs presented this letter as evidence that the company had been given a clean bill of health. However, the Metropolitan police have since said that the emails contained evidence of "alleged payments by corrupt journalists to corrupt police officers". And the former director of public prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, who examined a small sample of the emails, said they contained evidence of indirect hacking, breaches of national security and serious crime.

In a lengthy reply, Harbottle & Lewis say it was never asked to investigate whether crimes generally had been committed at the News of the World but had been instructed only to say whether the emails contained evidence that Goodman had hacked phones with "the full knowledge and support" of the named senior journalists. The law firm reveals that the letter was the result of a detailed negotiation with News International's senior lawyer, Jon Chapman, and it refused to include a line which he suggested, that, having seen a copy of Goodman's letter of 2 March: "We did not find anything that we consider to be directly relevant to the grounds of appeal put forward by him."

In a lengthy criticism of the Murdochs' evidence to the select committee last month, Harbottle & Lewis says it finds it "hard to credit" James Murdoch's repeated claim that News International "rested on" its letter as part of their grounds for believing that Goodman was a "rogue reporter". It says News International's view of the law firm's role is "self-serving" and that Rupert Murdoch's claim that it was hired "to find out what the hell was going on" was "inaccurate and misleading", although it adds that he may have been confused or misinformed about its role.

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

The law firm's challenge to the Murdochs' evidence follows an earlier claim made jointly by the paper's former editor and former lawyer that a different element of James Murdoch's evidence to the committee was "mistaken". He had told the committee that he had paid more than £1m to settle a legal action brought by Gordon Taylor of the Professional Footballers Association without knowing that Taylor's lawyers had obtained an email from a junior reporter to the paper's chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, containing 35 transcripts of voicemail messages. Crone and the former editor, Colin Myler, last month challenged this.

In letters published by the committee, the former News of the World lawyer repeats his position. He says this email was "the sole reason" for settling Taylor's case. He says he took it with him to a meeting with James Murdoch in June 2008 when he explained the need to settle: "I have no doubt that I informed Mr Murdoch of its existence, of what it was and where it came from."

Myler, in a separate letter also published on Tuesday, endorses Crone's account. Their evidence raises questions about James Murdoch's failure to tell the police or his shareholders about the evidence of crime contained in the email.

Watson said that both Murdochs should be recalled to the committee to explain their evidence. Hinton, who resigned last month, may join them. Four days after Goodman sent his letter, Hinton gave evidence to the select committee in which he made no reference to any of the allegations contained in the letter, but told MPs: "I believe absolutely that Andy [Coulson] did not have knowledge of what was going on". He added that he had carried out a full, rigorous internal inquiry and that he believed Goodman was the only person involved.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug...CMP=twt_gu

[Jan Klimkowski]

Phone hacking: News of the World reporter's letter reveals cover-up
Disgraced royal correspondent Clive Goodman's letter says phone hacking was 'widely discussed' at NoW meetings

Today's bombshell evidence, which also includes lawyers saying on the record that their evidence was misrepresented by News International, is devastating for the testimony given on oath by Rupert and James Murdoch, and their variouis consigliere and made men.

:poketongue:

If justice is served, then this should be the result for the Murdoch crime family:

[Peter Lemkin]

Summary of the extraordinary revelations that emerged from the select committee today.

Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up. The most explosive revelation is that the former royal editor of the tabloid Clive Goodman, who was jailed in relation to phone-hacking in 2007, had written a letter four years ago to the head of human resources at News International claiming that the practice was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper. Goodman also made a second, equally serious, claim in the letter - that the then editor Andy Coulson had offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to "implicate" the paper in hacking when he appeared in court.

Labour's Tom Watson, the select committee MP who has pursued the phone-hacking scandal most vigorously, described the revelations as "devastating" for News International. For four years maintained phone-hacking was the work of 'one rogue reporter' although it changed its position last December. Watson says he now takes what News International tells him with "a pinch of salt".

In another embarrassing revelation, two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle and Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, was redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.

On the question of whether James Murdoch had "misled" the select committee when he appeared last month with his father, Rupert, Watson says the committee had drawn no conclusions. However, for this reason it is "likely" to recall James Murdoch, but not Rupert, for further clarification on a number of points. The News of the World's former editor Colin Myler and the paper's former head of of legal affairs Tom Crone, in their fresh letters to the committee re-iterated their allegations that Murdoch had misled MPs during last month's grilling.

James Murdoch's submission contains several fascinating revelations. It shows that Goodman received a far bigger pay out than the £60,000 the company had previously admitted. In total he got just under £250,000, made up of a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation, plus £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Watson says: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence". Murdoch's executives have always denied this.

Murdoch's letter also shows that another £250,000-odd has been spent on legal fees for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal. Last month, Murdoch announced, he would be ending the arrangement to pay Mulcaire's legal costs.

The select committee is to sit again on September 6. It is calling the former head of legal affairs at News International, Jon Chapman and Daniel Cloke the former head of human resources, to give evidence for the first time. It will also recall Myler and Crone.

5.38pm: Tommy Sheridan's lawyer, Aamer Anwar, has just released this statement about Andy Coulson, David Cameron's former head of communications who was editor of the News of the World at the time of the alleged phone-hacking.

Today the Culture,Media & Sport Select Committee disclosed that it was alleged that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking. If true this is a serious contradiction of the evidence given by Andrew Coulson during the Perjury Trial of Tommy Sheridan. Strathclyde Police's majory [sic] inquiry into perjury and phonehacking should now consider interviewing Clive Goodman as well as Andy Coulson.

We were told repeatedly during Mr Sheridan's trial by the police and the Crown, that perjury strikes at the heart of the administration of justice and nobody was above the law- We now expect to see a similar robust response to News of the World and for arrests to take place in Scotland, and if it is shown that people lied in the Glasgow High Court they should go to prison."

5.16pm: Select committee member Louise Mensch is on holiday but has been following events keenly. She is intrigued by the Harbottle & Lewis correspondence with News International over its 'review' of internal News of the World emails.


@LouiseMensch
Focus on Goodman letter but exchange between H&L and NI on wording of H&L letter is much more interesting

5.05pm: Want to see how heavily News International redacted the Clive Goodman letter compared to their then law firm, Harbottle & Lewis, which also submitted a version of the document to the committee?

Propublica has overlaid the two in this interesting interactive graphic.

4.59pm: Other nuggets from James Murdoch's letter (second PDF on select committee website) that my colleague Josh Halliday has spotted:

No records to show who deputised for Rebekah Brooks or who was the on-duty lawyer while she was on holiday when the controversial Milly Dowler story was published (14 April 2002) that referred to her voicemail messages. (P6 in Murdoch's letter)

'Any' payment made in cash had to be approved by the editor or deputy editor (P4 in Murdoch's letter)

Senior reporters were able to approve non-cash payments of up to £2,000 (P4 in Murdoch's letter)

54 News International employees have been disciplined or dismissed since 2000, including three so far this year. (P5 in Murdoch's letter)

4.42pm: There are few winners in this phone-hacking scandal, but lawyers are among them.

James Murdoch reveals in his letter to the select committee that News International has paid an eye-popping £246,000 to lawyers acting for Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal.

4.27pm: Ed Miliband is using the new phone-hacking evidence to launch an attack on David Cameron.

The Labour leader said the evidence submitted to the committee indicated Mr Cameron's judgment in employing Mr Coulson was "catastrophic".

This evidence raises serious questions about the extent of the cover-up at News International and the judgment of David Cameron. It says phone hacking was widely discussed at the News of the World.

The problem for Mr Cameron is that he was already warned by the article in the New York Times last year about the same behaviour that today's evidence claims went on at the News of the World when Andy Coulson was the editor. Yet he continued to employ Andy Coulson as his director of communications.

The Prime Minister took no action and looked the other way amid these allegations that he had brought someone aware of criminal activity into 10 Downing Street.

Every new bit of evidence shows how catastrophic his judgment was.

4.07pm: Daniel Cloke, News International's former head of human resources is being called to give evidence to the select committee on September 6, the Press Association is reporting. It is the first time Cloke, who now works at Vodafone, has been dragged into the row.

Also being called in for the first time is Jon Chapman, the former head of legal affairs at News International. He was dumped on by the Murdochs in the last select committee hearing.

And as expected the committee is also calling Tom Crone, the paper's former head of legal affairs and former editor Colin Myler to give further evidence on September 6.

The MPs are also writing to former editor Andy Coulson and his predecessor as editor Rebekah Brooks, the tabloid's former managing editor Stuart Kuttner, and former News International chief executive Les Hinton to ask whether they wish to clarify earlier evidence given to the committee.

3.51pm: Just back to the Harbottle and Lewis letters.

The role of this respected City law firm has been the subject of intrigue ever since Rupert Murdoch said they had made "a major mistake" when they apparently reviewed 300 internal News of the World emails and found nothing to suggest other journalists or the newsdesk was aware of phone-hacking.

Harbottle and Lewis has for the first time rejected these claims - it was previously bound by confidentiality clauses from discussing what News International had asked it to do.

The firm says the review of emails had been a limited "desktop exercise" which specifically related to Mr Goodman's claim for wrongful dismissal.

There was absolutely no question of the firm being asked to provide News International with a clean bill of health which it could deploy years later in wholly different contexts for wholly different purposes," it said.

If the firm had initially been given a retainer as broad as instructions 'to find out what the hell was going on' or (to put it more formally) to undertake an investigation which News International could use for broader purposes, such as laying it before Parliament as independent support for the 'one rogue reporter' theory, the firm would have refused the instructions.

It is interesting now to look back at the statements made by senior News International executives since Goodman sent his letter in 2007 claiming the practice was widely discussed.

Here's a timeline of who said what and when.

2.51pm: The Guardian's James Robinson says the letter from ex-NoW royal editor Clive Goodman is one of the most critical pieces of evidence to be submitted to the select committee.

Robinson has been analysing the letter sent by Goodman to News International in 2007 and provides the back story here. Click on the yellow tabs for the explainers.

If proven to be accurate, it suggests a large-scale cover-up at News International which had maintained for nearly four years that phone-hacking was the work of "one rogue reporter" - Goodman.

The letter also challenges News International's present defence which is that it only discovered there may have been more people involved in phone hacking after evidence emerged during a civil action launched by Sienna Miller against the News of the World.

2.20pm: My colleague James Robinson has just received News International's statement on the latest allegations threatening to engulf the newspaper publisher.

News Corporation's board has set up a Management and Standards Committee, chaired by independent chairman Lord Grabiner, which is co-operating fully with the Metropolitan police and is facilitating their investigation into illegal voicemail interception at the News of the World and related issues.

We recognise the seriousness of materials disclosed to the police and parliament and are committed to working in a constructive and open way with all the relevant authorities.

2.08pm: On News of the World's former royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed for phone-hacking offences, Watson has this:

Let me be clear, if what Goodman says is accurate, then it's very, very serious for Andy Coulson and Tom Crone the lawyer.

If it's not accurate, the central question is why did Les Hinton, the chief executive of News International at the time, on receiving this letter not mention it to a Parliamentary inquiry that he gave evidence to only days afterwards and why did he not immediately call in the police? After all there had been an allegation of widespread criminality in the organisation in 2007 and he didn't want to clear it up. That contradicts what Rupert Murdoch told us which us he takes a zero tolerance policy to wrongdoing in News Corp.

2.05pm: Labour's Tom Watson, the select committee MP who has pursued phone-hacking most vigorously says he now takes what News International says "with a pinch of salt".

He's just told ITV News

I take what the company say with a pinch of salt now. They've hired a lot of PR people to handle their media.

And what is interesting is, the Clive Goodman letter which I think is devastating and suggests that not just Andy Coulson, but everyone on the editorial team of News of the World was aware of phone hacking, in the version the company gave the committee they blacked out those lines, so I don't think they are being as honest as they say.

Clive Goodman's letter to Daniel Cloke

1.59pm:
A copy of the "devastating" letter from royal correspondent Clive Goodman which says phone hacking was "widely discussed" at News of the World editorial meetings is on the culture select committee website. Scroll down to page 19 on the PDF.

1.48pm: Those with a sensitive disposition cover your eyes now.

@Jemima_Khan
A-fuckin-gog

Jemima Khan and Hugh Grant recently won a court order to force police to hand over documents in relation to the alleged hacking of their voicemail messages by an investigator hired by the News of the World and other newspapers.

1.33pm: The culture select committee has now published all the fresh documents. Here's the link.

1.29pm: Equally as embarrassing for News International and for Rupert Murdoch is new evidence submitted by London law firm Harbottle and Lewis.

Last month it was accused of making "a major mistake" by Rupert Murdoch last month after it was hired in 2007 by News International to review 300 internal News of the World emailsand reported back there was no evidence that illegal actions at the News of the World went further than those of Clive Goodman.

The law firm has now hit back and says Murdoch's allegations in the Wall Street Journal were themselves "inaccurate and misleading".

Here's Davies again:

Harbottle and Lewis say they find it "hard to credit" James Murdoch's repeated claim that News International "rested on" their letter as part of their grounds for believing that Clive Goodman was a "rogue reporter". They say News International's view of their role is "self-serving" and that Rupert Murdoch's claim that they were hired "to find out what the hell was going on" was "inaccurate and misleading", although they add that he may have been confused or misinformed about their role.

The Harbottle & Lewis letter is the first page in the PDF of evidence just published by the select committee.

1.17pm: We now have a copy of the Clive Goodman letter which we will repost soon

1.16pm: Media commentator Steve Hewlett says the new evidence, if it is to be believed, could be very damaging for James Murdoch, heir apparent to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp empire.

He cautions that Goodman's letter is written by a man seeking damages in an unfair dismissal claim.

If it ends up looking as if James Murdoch has done anything other than tell the whole truth, and in all fairness to him I have no reason to believe he hasn't told the whole truth. ....anything that emerges that throws serious doubt on what James Murdoch says it clearly going to be damaging to him.

1.13pm: Tom Watson also claims that Goodman was paid "hush money" after new evidence showed he was paid far more than the company previously stated.

Davies reports:

The company also faces a new claim that it misled parliament. In earlier evidence to the select committee, in answer to questions about whether it had bought Goodman's silence, it had said he was paid off with a period of notice plus compensation of no more than £60,000. The new paperwork, however, reveals that Goodman was paid a full year's salary, worth £90,502.08, plus a further £140,000 in compensation, plus £13,000 to cover his lawyer's bill. Tom Watson said: "It's hush money. I think they tried to buy his silence." Murdoch's executives have always denied this.

12.47pm: The Goodman evidence is certainly a bombshell.

In a letter to News International's head of human resources Daniel Cloke (now at Vodafone), Goodman says Crone and Coulson promised he could have his job back when he got out of jail if he did not "implicate" the paper in wider phone-hacking allegations.

Worse, two versions of the Goodman letter were given to the committee - one, supplied by News International, redacted to remove all references to hacking being discussed in editorial meetings.

Davies reports:

In a particularly embarrassing allegation, he adds: "Tom Crone and the editor promised on many occasions that I could come back to a job at the newspaper if I did not implicate the paper or any of its staff in my mitigation plea. I did not, and I expect the paper to honour its promise to me." In the event, he lost his appeal. But the claim that the paper induced him to mislead the court is one that may cause further problems for News International.

Two versions of Goodman's letter were provided to the committee. One which was supplied by Harbottle and Lewis has been redacted to remove the names of journalists, at the request of police. The other, which was supplied by News International, has been redacted to remove not only the names but also all references to hacking being discussed in Coulson's editorial meetings and to Coulson's offer to keep Goodman on staff if he agreed not to implicate the paper.

12.41pm: The Guardian's Nick Davies now has the full story which can be read here

He reveals:

Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch and their former editor Andy Coulson all face embarrassing new allegations of dishonesty and cover-up after the publication of an explosive letter written by the News of the World's disgraced royal correspondent, Clive Goodman.

In the letter, which was written four years ago but published only on Tuesday, Goodman claims that phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial meetings at the paper until Coulson himself banned further references to it; that Coulson offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when he came to court; and that his own hacking was carried out with "the full knowledge and support" of other senior journalists, whom he named.

The claims are acutely troubling for the prime minister, David Cameron, who hired Coulson as his media adviser on the basis that he knew nothing about phone hacking. And they confront Rupert and James Murdoch with the humiliating prospect of being recalled to parliament to justify the evidence which they gave last month on the aftermath of Goodman's allegations. In a separate letter, one of the Murdochs' own law firms claim that parts of that evidence were variously "hard to credit", "self-serving" and "inaccurate and misleading".

12.28pm: Robert Peston, the BBC's business editor, has just tweeted that the law firm asked initially to investigate a batch of News of the World emails has hit back at claims that it had got it wrong.

Harbottle "rejects evidence of Mr James Murdoch that News Int 'rested on' the (Harbottle) letter" for belief Goodman was lone rogue reporter.

12.21pm: A summary so far:

The select committee says the fresh evidence they have received in relation to the News of the World phone-hacking scandal is "devastating" and that James Murdoch is "likely" to be recalled for a second grilling.

The former editor of the Sunday tabloid, Colin Myler, and the paper's head of the legal affairs have provided more evidence to support their allegations that Murdoch 'misled' the committee about his knowledge of phone-hacking at the News of the World.

Watson has hinted at explosive new evidence from former royal editor Clive Goodman, who was jailed in 2007 in relation to phone-hacking offences.

12.18pm: Whittingdale says he is not looking to replicate the Leveson inquiry.

12.17pm: Whittingdale says it is unlikely Rupert Murdoch will be recalled. Watson says this is because "the devil is in the detail". Shame. Would have been entertaining.

12.17pm: Asked whether James Murdoch 'misled' the committee, Watson says: "We've not drawn a conclusion from that".

12.15pm: Watson reiterates that the new evidence is "devastating". He refers to fresh evidence in relation to former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman.

12.14pm: Whittingdale says he asked for written submissions and those submissions have "raised questions" which need to be answered in fresh oral hearings.

12.13pm: Whittingdale says that Murdoch claims he was not aware of the "for Neville" email but that is not what Myler and Crone says.

Watson says that means there is "contradictory evidence" between Murdoch and Myler and Crone and Murdoch is "likely" to be recalled.

He adds that documents published by the committee at 1pm will be "devastating".

12.12pm: Tom Watson and chairman John Whittingdale are answering questions. Whittingdale says Murdoch has submitted details on payments to Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the centre of the scandal.

12.09pm: The select committee meeting is due to finish in a few minutes.

12.02pm: Tom Watson has just tweeted this:
Documents submitted to DCMS select committee will be published at 12.59pm. On dcms web site. Lobby- I'll be in grimond room at 1pm.

11.57am: The parliamentary select committee investigating phone hacking at the now-defunct News of the World is to issue a statement at 1pm after receiving fresh evidence from executives caught up in the scandal including James Murdoch.

The select committee met at 11.30am to discuss new submissions from Murdoch and four other key executives including former head of legal affairs at the tabloid Tom Crone and the former editor Colin Myler who had sensationally accused Murdoch of giving "mistaken" evidence to the committee last month.

Labour MP Tom Watson has already promised that the evidence is "dynamite".

Former chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks and News International's former head of legal affairs Jon Chapman have also submitted evidence.