Hacking Trial Live Tweets – 3 Mar

Monday 3 March 2014

Summary
Rebekah Brooks Defence covers more evidence on Count 1 – Hacking
Brooks becomes CEO of News International
Gordon Taylor’s Civil Action
Glen Mulcaire Contracts
Max Clifford Civil Action
Mulcaire Legal Order to name other Victims
Rebekah Brooks Defence moves onto Count 5 and 6 – Concealing Evidence
Brooks question on Email Deletion
The emails that Closed the News of the World
Offices Swept
Arrests and Desk Clearing

Rebekah Brooks Defence covers more evidence on Count 1 – Hacking
Brooks becomes CEO of News International
Back at the #hackingtrial for day 67: Rebekah Brooks for the seventh day in the witness box
Brooks’ barrister, Jonathan Laidlaw QC, has already question her on Counts 1 & 5. We’re now moving onto allegations of coverup: Counts 6 & 7
Laidlaw has now arrived at the summer of 2009: when Brooks was promoted to CEO of News International from editor of Sun
“At the end of Count One,” Laidlaw reminds us we’d explored the meetings for DCI Surtees and lunch with Clive Goodman
Brooks married Charlie in August 2009: her promotion was announced in June 2009: in 01/09/09 Brooks took up new role
Brooks talks of Les Hinton’s move from NI in December 2007 – when he became chief executive of the Dow Jones: replaced by James Murdoch
James Murdoch didn’t become executive chair of NI – but CEO in 2007
“Originally the plan was for me to be made deputy CEO… it’s a big jump from editor to corporate role,” says Brooks of promotion in 2009
“I reported to James Murdoch: He was executive chair, and I was CEO… he also got a bigger role in News Corp,” says Brooks.
Brooks says she had some training for her executive role: she’d travelled in previous 18 months to Italy, Germany, Australia.
J Murdoch brought in Boston Consultancy to review News Corp: Brooks: “I was sent to LSE in 2008 to do some modules on accountancy”
Gordon Taylor’s Civil Action
We turn Guardian article of 08/07/09 about Gordon Taylor‘s civil action: “phone hacking not limited to Goodman and Mulcaire”
“The article alleged a larger number of people had been hacked,” alleged the Guardian: just after Brooks’ promotion announced.
Laidlaw explains to the jury the role of Gordon Taylor, head of the football players association
BREAKING: Brooks says she didn’t hear of the Gordon Taylor phone hacking suit the day before it appeared in the Guardian.
The Guardian article reported that NGN had paid out £1 million in a civil suit to Gordon Taylor, to prevent wider hacking being made public
At the time Brooks didn’t believe that Taylor settlement was true: she had no involvement “It was a confidential arrangement” says Brooks.
“I’d been told in 06,” says Brooks “by Surtees they felt Mulcaire had listened to voicemails of 100-110 victims.”
Brooks talks about DCI Surtees “needing 5 or 10 (victims); in the trial I think there were only five”
“I think it was thousands,” says Brooks of Guardian article in July 09: “I think it said four thousand.”
Brooks said she thought 4k phone victims number was wrong.
Brooks says that, by 2009, she hadn’t seen Mulcaire notes.
Brooks confirms that Nick Davies made the Gordon Taylor settlement public after his article in July 09
The “For Neville” is cited in Court 12: “Hello this is the transcript for Neville”
Brooks is asked to look through the ‘For Neville” email: she says she first say it “shortly before they were made public” late July 09
Laidlaw summarises the corporate position. 2007 Hinton was saying Goodman “a rogue exception”
“I think the term “rogue exception” came from the new editor, Colin Myler,” says Brooks.
Brooks says of phone hacking between May 07 and July 09 “this entire subject went without any conversation”
29/06/05 “For Neville’ email to Mulcaire is explored.
The “For Neville” email has 25 transcripts of Gordon Taylor Messages.
Brooks says of reading ‘For Neville”: “The emphaticness of company position, that no one else was involved in hacking, was looking shaky”
Laidlaw adduces a second bit of evidence the Guardian made public in 2009: “I’m sure I was told about it before it was made public”
Glen Mulcaire Contracts
The second bit of evidence is a Paul Williams (Mulcaire) Greg Miskiw contract for Gordon Taylor
Brooks says it seems to be a side contract, like the one Mulcaire had with Goodman. For “Payment for accessing Gordon Taylor‘s voicemail”
“The existence of Mulcaire..working before during and after my editorship of NOTW, I think I’d known before meeting DCI Surtees” says Brooks
Brooks talks of revelation in 2007 that Goodman had a side contract with Mulcaire, paid in cash, to access voicemails of Royal Household
That was in sentencing in 2007: in July 2009 Brooks said the Miskiw Mulcaire contract looked similiar.
Brooks says that these two documents still didn’t change her view their hadn’t been hacking during her editorship of NOTW.
Baroness Buscombe of the PCC writes to Brooks on 23/07/09 about the Guardian’s new allegations
Buscombe talks about the DCMS re-opening its parliamentary hearings in the wake of Guardian revelations and “whether PCC took robust role”
“I’d very much like to point out to Select Committe… further restrictions are not necessary,” says Buscombe in letter, copied to C Milner
02/09/09 reply to PCC by Brooks as newly installed CEO: Brooks says Buscombe might have written to everyone, including James Murdoch
“I think I got corporate affairs dept at NI to talk to all the editors,” says Brooks of reply to Buscombe.
Laidlaw reads out the Brooks reply and how NI has taken measure to prevent phone hacking happening, and the role of contracts.
“Post Goodman editors of NOTW and the Sun wrote to all their employees,” says letter, and breaching PCC would lead to disciplinary measures
Brooks explains the 1998 Data Protection Act: refers to 2003 report of PIs used by “news papers and law firms” and some arrests.
Brooks talks of “collective failure to monitor activities of private detectives vis-a-vis data protection”: nothing to do with phone hacking
Brooks’ letter to Buscombe talks about subterfuge and need for “clear public interest defence… arms dealing… child molestation”
Brooks letter talks of “undercover” investigations at the Sun: managing editor should check with PCC the public interest is sufficient.
Brooks letter also talks of “strict protocols” on cash payments post the Mulcaire/Goodman trial:
“At the Sun no cash payments are made without written approval by editor or editor of the day,” Brooks writes in 2009 to PCC Chair.
Max Clifford Civil Action
Laidlaw turns to Max Clifford
Brooks says she had “Internal confirmation later the next day” that payment had been made to Gordon Taylor but not the amount in 09/07/09
Brooks confirms Max Clifford was suing NI at this time in 2009: “one of the five” named in Mulcaire conviction in 2007
Laidlaw cites an email from senior NI executive: Brooks said “I did get this information”
18/11/09 email is addressed to Brooks as CEO. “What we want to achieve… resolve the dispute between you and Max”:
“It’s odd he would say ‘between you and Max'”… I think it’s because I was dealing with Max,” says Brooks.
Email talks about settlement “without using lawyers”: Brooks “I’d dealt with Max seen I was 25 or 26 years old. I’d seen him when I was CEO.”
Brooks talks of “falling out” between Clifford: “Les Hinton decided NGN should not deal with Max again… NOTW had paid him millions”
“He’d been banned basically for working for NGN” says Brooks “Commercial deal with Max would be separate from anything to do with civil case
Email to Brooks explains same lawyers representing Clifford represent Sky Andrew, and pay off to him will encourage them to come forward.
“News International was facing an uncertain exposure… liability was huge. Best policy to protect company were confidential settlements.”
“Max’s objective was to resume his very lucrative relationship with NGN,” says Brooks of 2009.
“There was nothing to suggest the original ruling on that contract wasn’t correct,” says Brooks of Cliffords claim Mulcaire paid for hacking
Mulcaire had told the court of non Royal phone hacking in 2007. “It stands to reason people had worked with Mulcaire,” says Brooks
Email to Brooks over civil suit by Clifford: “Unless Mulcaire testifies he passed it to us, it is not direct evidence and likely to fail”
“This is pretty much the legal assessment… that was conveyed to me,” Brooks says of email about police and NI disclosure in 2009
Email to Brooks says the Clifford “claim might not amount to that much” because only 8 minutes of phone “accessing”
09/01/10 email to Colin Myler, John Chapman, Frederic Michel (Public Affars News Corp Europe run by James Murdoch) and Julian Pike (Farrers)
Confusingly there is both a Colin Milner and a Colin Myler cited in evidence
Email copied to Brooks talks about Farrer’s meeting on “liability and quantum” in the Max Clifford case.
15/01/10 another email after the Clifford hearing to same addressees including Brooks and corporate lawyer for News Corp Europe.
Mulcaire Legal Order to name other Victims
Email explains legal order requiring Mulcaire to name further victims in early 2010.
Brooks: “We were opposing the order… to force Mulcaire to name anyone he worked with at NOTW… he was an unreliable witness, naming names”
“The view was he was he could say anyone or anything” says Brooks of NI’s opposition of legal order forcing Glenn Mulcaire to speak out.
BREAKING: email in 2010 confirms News International “underwrote” Mulcaire funded his legal costs opposing disclosure of hacking at NOTW.
Brooks says this decision to underwrite Mulcaire’s legal costs did not come from her but legal team.
Re last BREAKING – it is known NI funded Mulcaire in 2007 and 2011: but that that they ‘underwrote’ costs in 2010 is new
15 min break
Back with Laidlaw, who wants to go back and correct a piece of evidence.
Attendance note from NI/NGN/Farrers Max Clifford claim from Feb 2010: legal privilege has been waived.
Not observes Brooks no longer required by DCMS committee. Sky Andrews and other claimants have same counsel Charlotte Harris and Jeremy Reed
“The original five were pursuing civil proceedings… their disclosure from police from Mulcair notes… other names were on there,” Brooks
“The list of potential civil claimants was growing sideways,” says Brooks of civil disclosures revealing more hacking victims.
Legal note talks of Mulcaire “popping up out of the blue” and the judgement forcing him to reveal “who he was dealing with at NGN”
Correction: this must be a Jan 10 meeting because it talks of a hearing at the end of the Jan or early Feb
John Chapman asked why it was relevant to ask these questions of Mulcaire: Pike “they do not have anything direct” Clifford hacking at NOTW
Legal note talks of Brooks getting Clifford to agree £200k per annum for providing material for the Sun on 20/01/10
Brooks talks about a “successful commercial relationship with Max Clifford to prevent him continuing with a civil procedure”
Legal note says Brooks “should not put anything in writing” about deal with Clifford to pay him £200k
Advice not to put anything in writing could have come from internal legal team or outside counsel: “to keep the two things separate”
Legal note says Brooks was informed by Gordon Brown/DCMS she would now have to attend select committee.
Brooks explains note which says of Clifford in Jan 2010 she “could not be seen to be doing business with him”
“I was advised, or felt myself, if I was going to appear before Select Committee, I shouldn’t be doing business with Max,” says Brooks.
“Max wanted to deal to be confidential so did we. If you’re under oath in the select committee,” Brooks explains of problems of DCMS hearing
Brooks confirms of this note “this is Julian Pike talking”
“There was concerned that if Mulcaire was forced to give evidence, other people might be named,’ says legal note.
“We didn’t know what we didn’t know. We had no visibility on what Mulcaire might say,” says Brooks of this legal moment.
“You have to decide what is worth: doing a deal with Max that might look like a coverup: or indemnify Mulcaire” says legal note.
Brooks is asked about ‘coverup”: “it’s the unknown discloure.. financially and reputationally…”
“That’s the strategy I inherited,” says Brooks of the plan to settle civil claims confidentially and prevent more reputational damage.
02/02/10 Brooks diary shows a meeting with Max Clifford at 5pm
“Just me and Max,” says Brooks of this meeting: “We came to a commercial deal just the two of us.”
Brooks says “absolutely not” to any concern during Max Clifford settlement any allegations personally affected her or her editorship
Fred Michel to Brooks 03/02/10 about Mulcaire’s appearance in court
“He had been absent from News International for four maybe five years… because ban was made public… he had lost out,” says Brooks
Brooks says by this point Max Clifford had “brought a story to NGN. When I became CEO I lifted the ban on using him”
Michel email confirms Mulcaire would have named names if forced to
Brooks says deal with Clifford had to reflect those years Clifford had lost out in bidding war with Mirror and Mail because of NI ban.
Last tweets a catchup when iPad froze.
We’re now onto the NYT article from 2010 which reference the For Neville email released by Guardian the previous year.
Rebekah Brooks Defence moves onto Count 5 and 6 – Concealing Evidence
Brooks question on Email Deletion
Laidlaw wants to talk now about email retention and deletion, but will “step out of chronology” to explain it. He takes to jury forward
Email thread cited by Laidlaw 16/12/10 Matthew Anderson to Brooks about “announcing suspension” of NOTW employee and Sheridan case
Anderson, Michel and Polker were a News Corp executives under Europe and Asia: “umbrella for James Murdoch’s responsibility”
“Matthew Anderson was head of public affairs for News Corp Europe and Asia,” Brooks says of this email about suspension of NOTW employee
Brooks says this NOTW employee joined after her editorship.
This disclosure reported in Guardian because “of a new civil claim from Sienna… various other people who had their voicemails listened to”
Brooks talks of Guardian article: “Miller had gone to the police for her disclosure… ” this had revealed the ‘upper left’ Mulcaire tasking
“I probably hadn’t ever seen Mulcaire’s notes,” says Brooks of this December 2010. She had seen “nothing except what was in public domain”
“I don’t feel I’m getting the right advice” Brooks replies to News Corp exec Anderson. Brooks explains what she meant then,
“To my knowledge there were 110 victims, I don’t think I’m getting the right advice… how to react to documentation,” says Brooks
“All I’ve ever seen of these docs is on the Guardian website: what am I supposed to do?” says Brooks.
“The Guardian had made the inference – as it turned out rightly” about Guardian 2010 reports of Glen Mulcaire taskings.
Saunders asks about “Sheridan”: Laidlaw says “litigation elsewhere.”
“It’s not going to change Cable view of us,” says Brooks emails about Sienna Miller revelations “Nick Robinson rubbished the whole thing”
Brooks email says FT attacking them because News Corp buying Sky.
Brooks explains about the BSkyB bid to “take Sky privately” and buy remaining shares. “A controversial bid,” says Laidlaw
Brooks says BSkyB bid was well received “by nobody” in Summer 2010
Brooks explains line in email: “We’ve spent months moving from rogue reporter to zero tolerance”
“It was company policy to state emphatically in 2007 only Mr Goodman had been involved in phone hacking activities,” says Brooks.
“If any evidence comes to light other employees have been hacking voice mails, there would be zero tolerance,” explains Brooks.
The allegations of new employee hacking “very damaging” if they don’t act says Anderson to Brooks in 2010
Brooks can’t remember if she saw or just heard reports of top left taskings of Mulcaire in December 2010
“All I have is one Guardian article,” Brooks explains of suspending an employee and her queries to Matthew Anderson at News Corp.
“We can be confident the allegation will be made in court,” says Anderson: “we’re aware of other circumstances where he could be named”
“The Guardian can’t be used as formal evidence” notes Saunders of discussion about ‘papers’ mentioned in Anderson email
Brooks says that Colin Myler had probably alerted NOTW employee beforehand that they were about to be suspended.
All these events happen 16/12/10 – Laidlaw now goes back to email retention and deletion policy.
Laidlaw reads email deletion admissions: 90 million retrieved generally up to 2011.
These admissions – agreed by both sides – have been heard a couple of times already in Court 12.
The admissions speak of archiving options introduced in 2005: which was locally controllled: of 8k users 7k weren’t archived.
“Mrs Brooks never opted in to using NI’s original email archive system installed in 2005” says admission heard previously
Only email sent to the users who archived their accounts has been retrieved the admissions say.
Brooks says she “wouldn’t particularly” have know at the time what email archiving meant. “I don’t remember particularly opting out”
“I do remember the email system was a nightmare,” Brooks: “That was the reason given we couldn’t have blackberries: the servers could’t cope
“I use my inbox… unless I’ve deleted them, to manage my email system,” says Brooks and speaks of ‘grouping’ emails in MS Outlook
“I did all my work myself,” says Brooks of email. “It was all in my inboxes”: groups named ‘Mum” or “KRM’
“Wasn’t the best managed email box… as I said there were 11k emails in there,” says Brooks
Brooks explains how email would “freeze…. or take ages to log on. I would tell Cheryl or Debs and someone from IT would come up & fix it”
BREAKING: Brooks says she wasn’t aware he emails were not being archived centrally after 2005
Laidlaw talks of “purge events” in 2010 deleting 9 million emails: first a disc failure deleted a million.
In Sept 2010 IT email contractors purged emails dated before 2005 – 4.5 million emails deleted.
Brooks says she knew nothing about the purging task in September 2010
“Sky is uber good at this area… He (James M) couldn’t believe how antiquated our systems were,” says Brooks of these purges.
“This disc failures and purges were happening because we didn’t have a proper system,” says Brooks of 15 million of deletions until 2010
“Everyone was aware of the system problems,” says Brooks of email which would cause expensive delays to publication of the Sun on occasion
“We wanted to design a completely new system and come bang up to date,” says Brooks of her arrival as CEO of News International
Mr Hickey was the predecessor to Cheeseborough, who eventually became Chief Information Officer in summer 2010.
Break till 2.05 PM
Back after lunch at the #hackingtrial
Laidlaw adduces an email – seen before by the jury – from 14/05/10 from Brooks to Chapman about email deletion policy
Policy was to delete all emails up to 2007 in move to Thomas More Square (TMS).
“I probably just wanted to know what was going to happen to my inbox,” says Brooks of this May 2010 query about email deletion
“I just assumed all my emails were there… that email archive is what I can see,” says Brooks about her understanding of email retention
In a previous email policy the deletions were supposed to go back to December 08, but now seems to be only till December 07
“December 07 seems an odd date except around that time James Murdoch started at News International,” says Brooks
“At the same time as this we were going to move from Windows Outlook to Apple, the decision not to do anything while still in Wapping made”
18/05/10 Mr Hickey (former CIO NI) emails across the titles, copied to Brooks and Chapman, about “legal and technical” probs of retention
“The entire business was going to be in the email policy,” Brooks observers of recipients of this email about retention/deletion
“I think we secured any emails related to any ongoing legal actions,” says Brooks about email retention in May 2010.
“Emails have to be retained… however compromising they may be” says the memorandum on email deletion policy in 2010
29/07/10 Brooks writes to Chapman copied to Pannuccio asking about delay in email deletion policy, delayed because of move to Apple system
“He was an enormous fan of Apple, Google and the cloud,” says Brooks of new NI Chief Information Officer Paul Cheeseborough
“As CEO I had a list of a 100 things that were ongoing projects for the business, and this was one of them,” says Brooks of email interest
04/08/11 email (seen before) by Brooks to Hickey, Chapman and Cheeseborough, Anderson about email deletion for TMS move.
“Anything before Jan 2010 will not be kept” says new policy with her executive assistants going through emails for Brooks and James Murdoch
Laidlaw asks about this news to Hickey the date seemed to have changed for deletion from 2007 to 2010.
Brooks talks about how the email deletion policy keeps slipping: “move wouldn’t complete till 2011…. let’s keep to a year.”
Brooks is saying that the new deletion day of Jan 2010 decided in August that year was a result of “year long retention” policy.
Reply to Brook talks of this deletion “could be misconstrued if reported externally” and asks about shift from Jan 2007 to Jan 2010.
Brooks replies “Yes to Jan 2010. Clean sweep. Thanks”
Brooks asked if “anything sinister to be attached” to her phrase “clean sweep”: Brooks says “no”. It related to keeping stuff for 1 year
01/10/10 Brooks asking Chapman again about TMS deletion policy: “I was about to move physically from Wapping to Thomas More Square”
08/10/10 Chapman reply (previous should have been 07/10/11) about “current interest in NOTW phone hacking…. all emails should be preserved
The internal email names several NOTW journos whose email archives should be retained: plus Brooks, J Murdoch and Clive Milner.
The retention of Brooks, Murdoch and Milner emails were over “proposed transactions” because of commercially sensitive mergers.
“Important that all my emails kept from Jan 09 ongoing,” says Brooks because of potential referral to regulatory authorities over mergers
Email from Will Lewis cited: Brooks explains his career, from Telegraph editor to digital part of Telegraph group.
“When Will Lewis was thinking of leaving the Telegraph I hired him,” says Brooks.
‘From the time I hired him in Spring of 2010… Will played a very strong role in overseeing civil litigation,” Brooks says of Will Lewis
“As part of the disclosure process,” Brooks says of Sienna Miller: “we had a duty to disclose anything that could help her case.”
Will Lewis email asks CIO to secure NOTW equipment, and a long list of other employees whose emails should be preserved.
Cheeseborough follow up email on ‘retention’ – “strictly confidential” passed onto other NI execs.
Laidlaw reads from the joint admissions about contractors retrieving emails from 29 users on 11/01/11: deployed the next day.
Will Lewis was “constantly talking to lawyers involved”: John Chapman internal lawyers, and Julian Pike from Farrers.
More names are added to this list of emails to be retained in 2011, including two email addresses for Mulcaire.
Of 12/01/11 to 20/01/11 correspondence about emails Brooks says “If there were problems I’m sure they would have been brought to me or Will”
Delays caused in email deletion by legal clearance: “I think we delayed the whole project when we went to the police,” says Brooks.
Feb 2011 police require NI to preserve back up tapes. Brooks says Will Lewis was dealing with MPS and lawyers: “I got updates”
No backup of email prior to 2011 on initial material provided by NI to police in June 2011. They went back and got more.
Ten minute break
Back at #hackingtrial after a break.
“Fairly close to the end of the email deletion policy,” explains Justice Saunders to the jury. Laidlaw finishes this issue.
The emails that Closed the News of the World
Laidlaw now adduces the three emails seen in previous evidence described as “the emails that closed the News of the World”
These emails related to Tessa Jowell, Frederic Windsor and Joan Hammill (adviser to Lord Prescott) and go back to 2006
Brooks says she say these emails sometime early in January 2011 from the “disclosure process” as part of civil proceedings.
Brooks explains that these emails signified to her a NOTW employee “was fully engaged with Mr Mulcaire in intercepting voice mails”
The suspension of NOTW employee was before Christmas 2010: it became a dismissal in January 2011.
Brooks says of those three emails “we took them to the police… because in my view it was evidence of criminal conduct”
13/01/11 Brooks writes to her PAs Carter and Keegan, copied to Andy Coulson who was “still in Downing St as head of comms and strategy”
“Need to see Andy at 7.30 am… somewhere discreet” says email from Brooks to her PAs.
Brooks says she “can’t remember who initiated meeting. But I’d already seen the [three] emails at this stage
“I was going to tell Andy we found some pretty incriminating evidence” Brooks says of meeting with Coulson on 14/01/11
Brooks says the conversation: “was in backdrop of previous few months. It was becoming evidently very difficult for Andy’s position”
“Every time there was a civil claim, like Sienna Miller, there was a lot of publicity about this,” Brooks says
“When the spokesman becomes the story it’s impossible to do his job,’ says Brooks of the gist of that conversation with Coulson.
Offices Swept
Email to Will, copied to Hanna, about having her offices and phones swept “discreetly”: “Why does Blackberry keep cutting out”” ask Brooks
Brooks says they had the offices swept regularly for “commercial sensitivity…. especially for News Corp and share prices.
Regularly does not mean “regularly or monthly” but this was not a regular sweep after “disclosure process” revealed emails.
“The emails didn’t concern Sienna Miller,” Brooks says. “These emails not directly connected… we hired some lawyers. Took advice”
“It was decided that Will Lewis should go to Scotland Yard with some lawyers, Burton Copeland,” says Brooks of January 2011
“My Blackberry was behaving oddly,” says Brooks of email about sweep. “We wanted to make sure legal briefings didn’t get in wrong hands.
“It may seem like paranoia, but that was the world we lived in,” says Brooks of security consciousness in Jan 2011
We now turn to the admissions re Brooks’ missing computer hard drive.
Brooks explains of migration of NI executives to Apple with TMS move, leaving old PCs behind in Wapping.
In early 2011, the hard drive from Brooks’ redundant PC removed under instruction of CIO. Brooks says she doesn’t think she knew at time.
“The level of paranoia was quite high,” says Brooks: “Everything seemed to leak and got worse and worse as Operation Weeting continued”
“We couldn’t keep anything contained,” says Brooks: “A NI journalist approached me…. a person in the Labour Party had found sympathiser”
BREAKING: Brooks says a person in the Labour Party found a sympathetic NI journalist to leak stories about phone hacking in 2011.
Brooks says the hard drive was from a computer she’d used since September 2009
Operation Weeting commenced 26/01/11 when three emails provided by Will Lewis and NI to police.
Brooks asked about an email from late January asking about calling Andy Coulson: she can’t explain the significance of it
Laidlaw asks about Brooks’ “state of mind” in 2011 and when she thought she would personally be arrested.
Brooks says “no, absolutely not” to a question from her counsel as to whether she thought she may be arrested at beginning of Op Weeting
Email from Daisy Dunlop to Brooks, Lewis and Simon Greenberg in court.
Email previously seen refers to Chris Bryant alleging hacking began at NOTW under editorship of Rebekah Brooks.
Bryant criticises “unhealthy relationship” with NI and police. Brooks is asked about John Yates
Dunlop summary of Chris Bryant’s points asks how many NI execs knew about phone hacking.
Brooks says Bryant “was speaking in Parliament”. The summary by Dunlop is then forwarded by Brooks to Charlie Brooks.
Charlie Brooks then writes to Will Lewis about “Bryant seems pretty aggressive”.
“I’d obviously been travelling,” says Brooks:Lewis reply to Charlie “Bryant clearly making stuff up… Panorama hit with 2 legal letters”
Brooks explains that she was in New York at the time.
Brooks says she thinks this is the first time phone hacking has been attached to the period of her editorship at NOTW.
“I certainly had no knowledge of it happening under my editorship,” says Brooks of phone hacking.
“Apart from DCI Surtees…. he mentioned 2004 in our briefing… but I certainly never seen anything other than 05 and 06,” says Brooks.
Brookss on Chris Bryant: “In Sept 09 the Sun had dropped its support for Labour, which caused the start of a rather public fallout”
“That escalated with the Sky Bid in 2010,” says Brooks of fight between Labour and NI. Then references Cable “gone to war with Murdoch” tape
“From it being a row with Mandelson and Brown it escalated,” says Brooks. “Also issues in NYC between WSJ and NYT”
“The NYT sent a dozen journalists to London to investigate: the head of BBC flew out to New York to complain,” says Brooks.
Brooks also says Bryant had a “greivance” against the Sun because of a personal story written about him.
Laidlaw reads 08/04/11 internal NI statement about phone hacking between 2004 and 2006 at NOTW: apology and acceptance of liability
Public statement is much the same: internal investigations not sufficient robust, unreserved apology and regret from NI
Will Lewis writes to Brooks suggesting amendments: “we absolutely do not need to mention “rogue reporter,”” he writes.
Brooks explains context of the this 08/04/11 statement: “we decided we should admit liability, face up all the claims, and just be v open”
Brooks: “We had adopted the initial view to protect the company… but it wasn’t the right strategy. This was the right strategy”
Arrests and Desk Clearing
James Weatherup arrested when Brooks and Charlie were away in April in 2011.
09/04/11 to 17/04/11 Brooks was on holiday. Weatherup and Thurlbeck arrested by now.
In this 08/04/11 Daisy Dunlop emailing everyone about Guardian reports of “unexpected arrests leave NOTW stunned”
The Guardian article alleges the NOTW clearing Weatherup’s desk moments after his arrest, and removed via lawyers before police arrive
Brooks responds to Weatherup report with email: “Why did we clear desks?”
“It was explained to me on holiday that the… raid on Neville Thurlbeck’s desk was ‘not legal… not an approved search,” says Brooks.
Brooks says she was advised on clearance of Weatherup’s desk on “conference call while I was away”
“I was told the police were incredibly angry at NI’s actions.. so angry they were going to consider their options,” says Brooks
“I was told they were going to take action…. against Burton Copeland, Ian Burton, for giving this advice,” says Brooks of conference call
BREAKING: Brooks told she could be arrested on conference call in April 2011.
“Before I had gone away, DAC Akers had said to Will Lewis and Ian Burton, she thought I should be removed from confidentiality club” Brooks
Brooks explains “complicated route” on how police evidence disclosed to claimants on civil damages
Brooks says she was “very suprised” she was removed from confidentiality club. “It came out of the blue” before April 2011
Brooks says she took personal advice from Hickman and Rose on return from holiday in April 2011
Brooks asked about her ‘understanding’ of potential arrest: “they would be able to search my house and take what mattered”
Brooks is asked the Harbottle and Lewis file: “that was also there when I returned from this holiday,” says Brooks of Easter 2011.
Brooks names four law firms who were working for NI at this point in April 2011.
Brooks says she was taken through H&L emails with Ian Burton and external counsel.
Brooks explains how the H&L docs were 1) Goodman employment tribunal and 2) email reviews post Goodman arrest.
This Harbottle and Lewis file was handed to police and became the basis of Operation Elveden.
After this meeting with Ian Burton, Brooks talks to Lewis and Greenberg and general News Corp counsel in New York: Lon Jacobs and Joel Klein
Lewis and Brooks fly to Washington to meet Williams Conelly “Even more layers of lawyers,” notes Laidlaw.
Brooks says they also hired former DPP to give more external and advice and counsel over Harbottle and Lewis file.
“Lord MacDonald wrote to Commander Cressida Dick… he wanted to come and see her with the file,” says Brooks
“He was acting for News Corporation only on the H&L file,” says Brooks of Lord MacDonald of H&L file handed over 20/06/11
Brooks says this didn’t give her any “further anxiety” about process. She started IVF treatment just before travel to Washington.
Jury shown email from Brooks’ Blackberry to Simon Greenberg: director of corporate and public affairs for NI and exec on MSC
Greenberg writes to Brooks on hacking and payments he discusses “shut down option… brand too toxic for company. Important for rubicon”
Rubicon is the BSkyB bid
BREAKING; Brooks says the shutting down of News of the World discussed early on in 2011
“Important for Rubicon… because of plurality because of share NI had of newspaper media,” Brooks explains of closure of NOTW.
Email from Daisy Dunlop at News Corp of Independent coverage of phone hacking extending back before 2004
Indy article talks about Andy Gilchrist and potential phone hacking back in 2001.
Greenberg to Brooks 13/06/11 “You are meeting… at 3pm with the police at Oldswang”
Brooks explains the “large number of police officers going through Mulcaire’s notebooks and alerting people who appeared in them. “
This meeting with Oldswang is the second occasion Brooks met the police over Mulcaire’s hacking of her: “I’m shown documents for first time”
Brooks saw that Ross’ mobile and PIN code, her mum, and various other names were in Mulcaire’s notebooks.
Brooks says she couldn’t get hold of Ross Kemp immediately “because he was in Afghanistan”
Ross Kemp writes back on 20/06/06: Brooks replies “need to talk to you about phone hacking”.
“I think short after we were both at the same event,” says Brooks of meeting Kemp soon after.
Brooks says she informed Kemp about appearing in Mulcaire notebooks and arrangement “with very good friend”
23/06/11 Brooks emails her two PAs “I need my 2002/03 diaries”
Brooks: “it could be one of two things: Channel 4 doing a Dispatches programme on another private detective… it was in the ether”
Brooks says this PI worked for a lot of newspapers as well as NOTW. She had attended a meeting at Scotland Yard not sure when.
“That’s one thing I came up with, but it could be just a simple as the H&L file.” says Brooks of request for 2002/03 diaries.
“One of the emails references 2002,” says Brooks of H&L file. Internal lawyers asked about her whereabouts in 2002 or 2003
Email thread cited: from journo at the Sun “one of our sports video men…. received a call from Channel 4 researcher”
Brooks replies “thanks… any info gratefully received.”
“This is what I was talking about: Channel 4 thought Brooks’ meeting with Scotland Yard was at different date in 02/03
Back 10 am tomorrow

Note: All the defendants deny all the charges. The trial continues.

Related Articles
Peter Jukes on ABC Radio
Rebekah Brooks Takes The Stand At Phone Hacking Trial – The Daily Beast
The Brooks Plan B and Blair Unofficial Advisor emails
Half Time at the Phone Hacking Trial
How the Kindness of Strangers crowd funded my Hacking Trial coverage

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