The head of
"News International," the British news division of
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, has been officially asked to disclose details of alleged
payments made by the company’s newspapers to British police officers.The request, by Keith Vaz, chairman of the
Commons Home Affairs Committee, came after John Yates, acting deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (better known as Scotland Yard) testified that his officers have begun researching a statement made in 2003 by Rebekah Brooks, then the editor of The Sun and now CEO of
"News International," in which she acknowledged that such payments had been made.
In his letter to Brooks, Vaz requested that she provide him by April 4th, 2011, with the following information:
1.
The number of police paid by The Sun newspaper whilst you were editor?2.
How much these police officers were paid?3.
When the practice ceased?The latest development comes as Vaz’s committee looks deeper into complaints that Scotland Yard, in an effort to court favor with reporters for another
Rupert Murdoch newspaper, the "News of the World" failed to investigate apparent evidence that some reporters for the paper had routinely hacked into the voicemails of politicians and celebrities. In reporting on the new developments, Ian Dunt, editor of politics.co.uk, commented,
“Ms. Brooks is considered one of the most influential figures in the Murdoch Empire and her involvement in the ongoing row will be treated as a sign that the contagion of phone-hacking at "News of the World" is starting to spread to the entire business.”On Tuesday, April 5th 2011, British police arrested two journalists linked with the country's top selling tabloid as part of an investigation into phone hacking of celebrities, politicians and royals. Metropolitan Police said two men aged 50 and 42 were taken into custody in London on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages. They declined to name the men, who were later released on bail, but a lawyer for the tabloid's former news editor, Ian Edmondson, identified his client as one of the two.
The second man in custody is the
“News of The World's” chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter, confirmed that Thurlbeck was still employed by the tabloid.
Many are saying that Rupert Murdoch’s media interest were being protected as no Conservative Politician can get elected into public office without his support and backing. This mind thought is because this is not the first time for
Rupert Murdoch’s possible illegal sanctioned activities. One of Rupert Murdoch's best-performing papers,
“The News of The World,” was thrust into the center of the phone hacking scandal after a reporter and a private investigator in its employment were caught illegally eavesdropping on the phones of the British royal family's entourage. The pair was convicted in 2007, but
“News of the World” executives have long insisted that they were the only ones responsible for the tapping operation, a claim dismissed as implausible by the paper's critics.
This latest incident has brought to light that once again British journalists working for
Rupert Murdoch’s papers have been on a crime spree, hiring private eyes to illegally hack into the voicemail and data of thousands of people, including " tax records, social security files, bank statements and itemized phone bills";
Rupert Murdoch has paid out over £1M so far to hush it up.Here is an interesting aspect that all American Citizens should take note on.1.
The head of the Conservative party's communications is a former Murdoch executive who from the time that much of this crime was committed by his staffers.
2.
Senior editors are among those implicated. This activity occurred before the mobile phone hacking, at a time when Coulson was deputy and the editor was Rebekah Wade, now due to become chief executive of News International.
The extent of their personal knowledge is not clear: the
"News of the World" has always insisted that it would not break the law and would use subterfuge only if essential in the public interest.
But faced with this new evidence,
“News International,” has changed their position and started offering huge cash payments to settle the case out of court. To date they have paid out £700,000 in legal costs and damages on the condition that Taylor signed a gagging clause to prevent him speaking about the case. The payment is believed to have included more than £400,000 in damages. News Group then persuaded the court to seal the file on Taylor's case to prevent all public access, even though it contained prima facie evidence of criminal activity.
So the concluding statement to this posting is,
“How Much Illegal Activities Are Going On A Fox Programming And Other Rupert Murdoch’s Interest Here In The United States? Are our own Conservative Republican Party members running “Legal Interference” evidence suppression? Are the Ultra Conservative Republican Congressmen and Senators protecting illegal activities against others that is being sanctioned by Rupert Murdoch’s media interests here in the United States?
