Welcome To ProsecuteNewsCorp.Org
ProsecuteNewsCorp is our new campaign to hold Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp accountable for violating American laws, specifically the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits American companies and their employees from bribing foreign officials as part of their business. On July 11, 2011, we sent a letter to the FBI and SEC requesting that they conduct parallel civil and criminal investigations of News Corp in light of the phone hacking scandal in the UK.
This new campaign will have many action items and will link to the action items of other groups targeting News Corp.
Sign on to this Campaign!
ProsecuteNewsCorp.Org has written a letter to AG Eric Holder requesting a broad civil and criminal investigation of News Corp under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Click here to sign the letter.
Huffington Post: Rupert Murdoch 'Not A Fit Person' To Run Major Company, Phone Hacking Report Says
-By Jack Mirkinson
May 1, 2012- A parliamentary committee has judged that Rupert Murdoch is "not a fit person" to run a major international company such as News Corp. due to his handling of the phone hacking scandal.
The verdict, from the Culture, Media and Sport committee in the House of Commons, is an unexpectedly damning one. Committee members made clear on Tuesday that it was not a unanimous one, setting up a political fight when the entire House votes on some of its findings.
The committee wrote that Murdoch "turned a blind eye and exhibited willful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications," and concluded that he "is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company."
The report is the culmination of years of investigation since the phone hacking crisis first broke in 2009. Since then, the scandal has caught everyone from journalists to police to politicians in its net, and cost Murdoch hundreds of millions of dollars.
Center for American Progress- Who Is Rupert Murdoch?
-By Judd Legum, Christy Harvey
July 16, 2004-In recent years, Australian-born billionaire Rupert Murdoch has used the U.S. government's increasingly lax media regulations to consolidate his hold over the media and wider political debate in America. Consider Murdoch's empire: According to Businessweek, "his satellites deliver TV programs in five continents, all but dominating Britain, Italy, and wide swaths of Asia and the Middle East. He publishes 175 newspapers, including the New York Post and The Times of London. In the U.S., he owns the Twentieth Century Fox Studio, Fox Network, and 35 TV stations that reach more than 40% of the country...His cable channels include fast-growing Fox News, and 19 regional sports channels. In all, as many as one in five American homes at any given time will be tuned into a show News Corp. either produced or delivered." But who is the real Rupert Murdoch? As this report shows, he is a far-right partisan who has used his empire explicitly to pull American political debate to the right. He is also an enabler of the oppressive tactics employed by dictatorial regimes, and a man who admits to having hidden money in tax havens. In short, there more to Rupert Murdoch than meets the eye.
Press Release: POE Offers $100,000 Reward
ProtectOurElections.org Offers $100,000 Reward For Information Leading To The Arrest And Conviction Of News Corp Employees Who Hacked Or Bribed Americans
Watchdog Launches New Campaign ProsecuteNewsCorp.org
07.18.2011– Washington, DC- ProtectOurElections.org announced today that it is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of News Corp employees who hacked the phones of American citizens in the US, or bribed officials or others for information about Americans.
ProtectOurElections.org, an advocacy group dedicated to corporate and government accountability, is actively seeking whistleblowers and insiders who have personal knowledge of the illegal conduct and/or documents proving the illegal conduct. Tipsters can remain confidential and information can be sent to Tips@ProsecuteNewsCorp.com.
“News Corp and its top brass have engaged in an astonishing criminal enterprise in the UK.” said ProtectOurElections.org spokesman and attorney Kevin Zeese. “The investigation has now reached Rupert Murdoch’s inner sanctum and may not be limited to his UK operations.
AP: Ex-tabloid boss Brooks faces phone hacking charges
-By David Stringer
May 15, 2012- One of Rupert Murdoch's most trusted lieutenants and five people close to her were charged Tuesday with conspiring to hide evidence of phone hacking, bringing the scandal that has raged across Britain's media and political elite uncomfortably close to Prime Minister David Cameron.
The charges against former U.K. tabloid editor Rebekah Brooks, her husband Charlie and four aides are the first prosecutions since police reopened inquiries 18 months ago into wrongdoing by the country's scandal-hungry press.
Brooks, 43, faces three separate allegations of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice - an offense that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
For years, Brooks was the star in Murdoch's media empire, the top editor of two of his tabloids, a friend of his daughter Elisabeth and a close friend of Cameron, who has known her husband Charlie Brooks since they both went to an elite high school. Cameron is a neighbor, a friend and an occasional horse-riding companion of the couple.
The prospect that courts will hear potentially explosive accusations against Brooks and her husband could rock both Murdoch's global media empire and Cameron's political career.
Reuters: Ex-Murdoch editor charged over UK tabloid scandal
-By Michael Holden and Kate Holton
May 15, 2012- Rebekah Brooks, a close confidante of Rupert Murdoch, was charged on Tuesday with interfering with a police investigation into a phone hacking scandal that has rocked the tycoon's empire and sent shockwaves through the British political establishment.
Brooks, 43, was charged with conspiring to remove boxes of archive records from Murdoch's London headquarters, concealing material from detectives and hiding documents, computers and other electronic equipment from the police. If found guilty she could face a prison sentence.
The charges are the first since police re-launched an investigation into alleged illegal practices at Murdoch's British newspapers following accusations the extent of wrongdoing had been covered up.
The news is a personal blow for the world's most powerful media boss and also embarrassing for British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was close friends with Brooks and sent her text messages of support when the alleged offences took place.
Huffington Post: Rebekah Brooks Charged Over Phone Hacking: Faces Criminal Trial For 'Perverting The Course Of Justice'
-By Jack Mirkinson
May 15, 2012- Rebekah Brooks, the former head of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper wing and a key figure in the phone hacking crisis, is to face criminal charges over the scandal, it was announced Tuesday.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that Brooks "conspired with her husband, Charles Brooks, and others to pervert the course of justice."
Speaking at a press conference, Alison Levitt, the chief adviser to the Director of Public Prosecutions, said that Brooks and five others —her husband, her assistant, their chauffeur, their security and the head of security at News International — had all been charged. (A seventh person was arrested but is not being charged.)
She claimed that, between July 6 and 19th of 2011, Brooks and her assistant had illegally removed seven boxes of material from News International headquarters, and that the group had tried to conceal information from the police about the phone hacking scandal. The charges all stem from actions allegedly taken at the very height of the phone hacking scandal which had suddenly engulfed the entire Murdoch empire.
Huffington Post: Leveson Inquiry: Rebekah Brooks Did Receive 'Texts And Indirect Messages' From Politicians
May 11, 2012- Rebekah Brooks did receive "texts and indirect messages" from politicians after she resigned as News International chief executive over the phone hacking scandal, the Leveson Inquiry heard on Friday.
Speaking at the inquiry into press standards and media ethics, Brooks admitted to receiving "sympathetic" messages from "Number 10, Number 11, the Home Office and the Foreign Office".
The former News International executive said she did receive "indirect messages" from the David Cameron, which were "along the lines" of "keep your head up". She said he also expressed regret that he could not be more loyal in public.
The 43-year-old said she did not receive many messages from Labour politicians. When asked by Robert Jay QC, counsel for the inquiry, if she received a message from Tony Blair, Brooks replied "yes".
Asked if she received a message from Gordon Brown, Brooks said, "no - he was probably putting the bunting out," provoking laughter in the courtroom.
Huffington Post: David Cameron Texted Rebekah Brooks To 'Keep Her Head Up' During Height Of Hacking Crisis, New Book Claims
-By Jack Mirkinson
May 9, 2012- British Prime Minister David Cameron has been drawn back into the phone hacking scandal once more, as a new biography claims that he texted former News International chief Rebekah Brooks during the week that she stepped down from her post over the crisis.
The Times of London -- which is a part of News International, Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper wing -- was the first to report about the charges contained in "Cameron: Practically A Conservative," the newly updated book about the PM. It is yet another embarrassing revelation for Cameron, who has been sharply criticized over his ties to Brooks and to Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who became his top communications aide.
According to the authors, Cameron had at least two undisclosed meetings with Brooks, who was editor of the News of the World when Milly Dowler's phone was hacked, and who has been questioned by police twice in connection with both phone hacking and an ongoing investigation into the bribery of public officials.
The Independent: IoS exclusive: Revealed - Cameron's secret summit with News Corp
Murdoch lobbyist dismissed as a 'fantasist' set up talks between the PM and the News Corp board
-By Jane Merrick & James Hanning
May 6, 2012- David Cameron agreed to a meeting with one of Rupert Murdoch's senior executives that was arranged by the lobbyist now at the centre of the Jeremy Hunt scandal, The Independent on Sunday has learnt.
Frédéric Michel, whose numerous emails to Mr Hunt's special adviser have put pressure on the Culture Secretary to resign, set up the secret talks between Mr Cameron and Jose Maria Aznar, the former prime minister of Spain and a member of Mr Murdoch's News Corporation board.
The involvement of Mr Michel, the head of public affairs for News Corp, in such a top-level meeting severely undermines his portrayal by Mr Hunt and the Prime Minister as simply a lobbyist and "Walter Mitty" fantasist.
The previously undisclosed meeting in November 2009 also shows how Mr Cameron was being assiduously courted by News Corp executives beyond the Murdoch family, as the company was gearing up for its bid to take over BSkyB.
George Osborne and William Hague were also present at the talks, The IoS understands.