A Complete List of the Arrests and Resignations in the News Corp. Scandal
Rupert Murdoch is having a rough summer. His staffers are probably having a worse one, though. The number of people arrested or out of work in connection to phone hacking and bribing police at News Corp. papers is rising practically by the hour. After her resignation of Friday, former chief executive of News International Rebekah Brooks spent 12 hours in police custody to answer questions about her role in phone hacking. (Her lawyer says she's not guilty of any crimes.) Prime Minister David Cameron is extending the session of Parliament and cutting short a trip to Africa to return home and deal with critics who question his relationship with News Corp. Speculation is mounting around whether James Murdoch, News Corp.'s deputy chief operating officer, will be asked to step down as chair of BSkyB, and whether his sister Elisabeth might take the helm of the Murdoch empire.
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And these are just the top level News Corp. folks. At London's Metropolitan Police, both the commissioner Paul Stephensen (pictured above) and the assistant commissioner John Yates have now stepped down and more resignations seem imminent. Working down the list of arrests and resignations so far in the phone hacking scandal shows just how deep the damage goes.
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Arrests
Rebekah Brooks - Rupert Murdoch's favorite lieutenant resigned her post as CEO of News Corp.'s British newspaper arm, News International, on Friday and was arrested on Sunday, July 17. Police questioned Brooks about her knowledge of phone hacking during her tenures as editor of News of the World from 2000 to 2003 and The Sun from 2003 to 2009. Brooks will face questions from a Parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
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Neil Wallis - When Rebekah Brooks left for The Sun and Coulson took her job as editor, Wallis took Coulson's job as deputy editor of News of the World. Police arrested and questioned him on July 14.
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Andy Coulson - Coulson was arrested, questioned by police and released on July 8th. After serving as Brooks' deputy, Coulson served as editor of News of the World from 2003 to 2007 and then worked as David Cameron's press secretary, a fact that is now proving to be a significant political problem for the prime minister.
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Clive Goodman - Former royal editor of News of the World, Goodman was convicted of phone hacking-related crimes in 2007 and served four months' jail time for phone hacking-related crimes. Police arrested Goodman again on July 8th.
Unidentified private investigator - Police also took into custody an unnamed 63-year-old man on July 8th under suspicion of corruption.
Laura Elston - Police took Elston into custody on June 27 under suspicion of phone hacking. A reporter for the British Press Association, Elston was the first non-News Corp. journalist to be arrested.
Terenia Taras - A former freelancer for News of the World, a woman believed to be Taras was arrested and released without charges on June 23.
James Weatherup - When the News of the World scandal was still simmering, Weatherup's arrest on April 14 "stunned those at the highest level of the paper." Weatherup worked as News of the World's former assistant news editor from 2004 to 2011.
Neville Thurlbeck and Ian Edmondson - The respective former chief reporter and senior editor of News of the World were both arrested on April 5 under suspicion of phone hacking.
Glenn Mulcaire - Formerly hired as a private investigator for News of the World, Mulcaire was convicted and served six months in prison for his role in the phone hacking scandal in 2007.
Resignations
Rebekah Brooks - See above--the resignation came before she was arrested.
Andy Coulson - See above--Coulson resigned as David Cameron's media advisor in January, just before the scandal heated up again.
Les Hinton - The former executive chairman of News International from 1995 to 2007, Hinton resigned from his post as chief executive of Dow Jones on July 15. According to The Guardian, Hinton "has been accused of giving misleading information to parliament on two occasions, in 2007 and 2009, by saying there was no evidence of widespread malpractice within the company."
Tom Crone - Having served as the newspaper division's senior lawyer for 26 years, Crone would have been responsible for vetting the News of the World stories. According to The Independent's report, "News International declined to confirm whether he resigned or was asked to leave."
Lawrence "Lon" Jacobs - News Corp.'s general counsel stepped down on June 8th after 15 years at the company. Jacobs had overseen the company's acquisition of The Wall Street Journal and was a long-time friend and close confidant to Murdoch.
Commissioner Paul Stephenson - After heavy criticism, the chief of the London Metropolitan Police resigned on July 17th and denied any wrongdoing.
Assistant Commissioner John Yates - As expected, Stephenson's number two and the man formerly in charge of the phone hacking investigation resigned on Monday, July 18.
Did we miss anyone? Let us know.
