Tabloid Followed Lawyers of Phone-Hack Litigants
By JEANNE WHALEN
WSJ
News Corp. said its U.K. newspaper unit ordered surveillance of two lawyers representing victims of a now-closed tabloid's illegal news-gathering tactics, and called the surveillance "deeply inappropriate."
News Corp. said the surveillance was carried out on lawyers Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris, who represent many of the plaintiffs now suing the company. News Corp., speaking Monday in response to British media reports, said the surveillance "was not condoned by any current executive at the company."
News Corp. Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch is scheduled to appear again before a parliamentary committee on Thursday to answer questions about the phone-hacking scandal.
A former lawyer for the company's News of the World tabloid had already told a parliamentary panel that the tabloid had hired a freelance journalist to gather information on two lawyers involved in the phone-hacking lawsuits. Mr. Lewis has previously said publicly and in interviews with The Wall Street Journal that he has seen a dossier of information that the company's U.K. newspaper unit, News International, compiled about him, including details about his health, education and career. Ms. Harris didn't respond to a request for comment. (News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.)
Reports in the British media Monday raised new allegations about how the lawyers were followed and filmed. The Guardian newspaper Monday said News of the World hired an investigator to secretly film Mr. Lewis, Ms. Harris and their family members, within the last 18 months. The investigator was asked to try to prove a false claim that Ms. Harris was having an affair, the Guardian reported.
(More here.)
WSJ
News Corp. said its U.K. newspaper unit ordered surveillance of two lawyers representing victims of a now-closed tabloid's illegal news-gathering tactics, and called the surveillance "deeply inappropriate."
News Corp. said the surveillance was carried out on lawyers Mark Lewis and Charlotte Harris, who represent many of the plaintiffs now suing the company. News Corp., speaking Monday in response to British media reports, said the surveillance "was not condoned by any current executive at the company."
News Corp. Deputy Chief Operating Officer James Murdoch is scheduled to appear again before a parliamentary committee on Thursday to answer questions about the phone-hacking scandal.
A former lawyer for the company's News of the World tabloid had already told a parliamentary panel that the tabloid had hired a freelance journalist to gather information on two lawyers involved in the phone-hacking lawsuits. Mr. Lewis has previously said publicly and in interviews with The Wall Street Journal that he has seen a dossier of information that the company's U.K. newspaper unit, News International, compiled about him, including details about his health, education and career. Ms. Harris didn't respond to a request for comment. (News Corp. owns The Wall Street Journal.)
Reports in the British media Monday raised new allegations about how the lawyers were followed and filmed. The Guardian newspaper Monday said News of the World hired an investigator to secretly film Mr. Lewis, Ms. Harris and their family members, within the last 18 months. The investigator was asked to try to prove a false claim that Ms. Harris was having an affair, the Guardian reported.
(More here.)
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