FBI might be prepared to investigate News Corps under RICO statutes. In other words the same statutes they use to investigate the Mafia.

Courtesy of AdWeek:

Well-sourced information coming out of the Department of Justice and the FBI suggests a debate is going on that could result in the recently launched investigations of News Corp. falling under the RICO statutes. 

RICO, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, establishes a way to prosecute the leaders of organizations—and strike at the organizations themselves—for crimes company leaders may not have directly committed, but which were otherwise countenanced by the organization. Any two of a series of crimes that can be proven to have occurred within a 10-year period by members of the organization can establish a pattern of racketeering and result in draconian remedies. In 1990, following the indictment of Michael Milken for insider trading, Drexel Burnham Lambert, the firm that employed him, collapsed in the face of a RICO investigation. 

Among the areas that the FBI is said to be looking at in its investigation of News Corp. are charges that one of its subsidiaries, News America Marketing, illegally hacked the computer system of a competitor, Floorgraphics, and then, using the information it had gleaned, tried to extort it into selling out to News Corp.; allegations that relationships the New York Post has maintained with New York City police officers may have involved exchanges of favors and possibly money for information; and accusations that Fox chief Roger Ailes sought to have an executive in the company, the book publisher Judith Regan, lie to investigators about details of her relationship with New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik in order to protect the political interests of Rudy Giuliani, then a presidential prospect. 

Here is where the RICO logic comes in. The usual path of a criminal investigation follows the crimes back to the source—that’s what happened to News Corp. in the U.K. when the royal family discovered that its voice mail messages were appearing in the press. But in a RICO investigation, you are really following the ethos and methods of operation of a group or organization to the crime. In other words, criminal activity is not seen as an isolated or particular event—as News Corp. has desperately and unsuccessfully tried to portray the crimes that occurred in the U.K.—but as an established pattern of conduct. 

As it happens, much of this pattern of conduct at News Corp. has long been hiding in plain sight. How the company has gotten away with such behavior is, in fact, a subtext of the investigations that are now unfolding. 

Partly, the company has escaped legal scrutiny because this is a boys-will-be-boys sort of story. News Corp.’s by-any-means aggressiveness has become so much a part of its identity that it seemed almost redundant to find fault with it. Everybody knew but nobody—for both reasons of fear and profit—did anything about it; hence its behavior has become, however unpleasant, accepted. 

And partly, it’s because the fundamental currency of the company has always been reward and punishment. Both the New York Post and Fox News maintain enemy lists. Almost anyone who has directly crossed these organizations, or who has made trouble for their parent company, will have felt the sting here. That sting involves regular taunting and, often, lies—Obama is a Muslim. (Or, if not outright lies, radical remakes of reality.) Threats pervade the company’s basic view of the world. “We have stuff on him,” Murdoch would mutter about various individuals who I mentioned during my interviews with him. “We have pictures.” 

Similarly, the Post and Fox News heap praise and favors on partisans, who in turn do them favors (the police, in New York as well as London, receive and return the favors). 

This reward and punishment has translated into substantial political power, both in terms of regulatory advantages and, too, in the ability of the company to shield itself from the kind of scrutiny that it has taken a perfect storm of events to have it now receive.

Use the same methods to investigate News Corp that the FBI used to investigate, and imprison, Mafia members? 

Considering what we know about how Fox News has used its influence to control elections, cover up for their favorite politicians, and attack competitors, it makes perfect sense to me.

Stephen Colbert ridicules the coverage of the Oslo terrorist attack by Fox News and other conservative news outlets.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Norwegian Muslish Gunman's Islam-Esque Atrocity
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog Video Archive

I thought this was one of Colbert's most brilliant segments ever.

It demonstrated just the right amount of seriousness about the attack themselves before using comedy to mock Fox, and other Murdoch owned media, for using the attacks to fan the flames of Islamic hatred.

Though there was no connection, Fox News used the Oslo terrorist attacks to fan the flames of anti-Muslim hatred.

In early reporting all anybody knew was that there HAD been a bombing in Norway and a shooting at the youth camp.  Yet that was all Laura Ingraham needed to state unequivocally that, “Two deadly terror attacks in Norway, in what appears to be the work, once again, of Muslim extremists,” and then to immediately jump to a pre-recorded Bill O'Reilly interview with the lawyer representing the Islamic Community Center in New York, which prominently featured O'Reilly bullying the man and insinuating that the Muslim people were to blame for 9-11.



We can wait until we are blue in the face for Ingraham, or Fox News, to apologize for their blatant hate mongering but it will never come. This was a purposeful decision to gin up more hatred toward Muslims, and as a byproduct keep Americans supporting the wars overseas which financially benefits Fox News, and which feeds Roger Ailes personal xenophobia concerning the Islamic people.

This morning I wrote:

And hidden in the shadows there can be no doubt that America has its version of an Anders Behring Breivik, just waiting in the wings for that last straw to snap his emotional camel's back, or perhaps for direction from a Right Wing radio host or Fox News talking head, to provide a clue as to which enemy he needs to place in his crosshairs.

Can there be any doubt who Fox News is actively attempting to place in those crosshairs?


And is that not exactly the kind of rhetoric which inspired Anders Behring Breivik to launch his devastating terrorist attack against his own people in the first place?

Breivik had talked admiringly online about conversations he had had with unnamed English Defence League members and the organisation Stop the Islamification of Europe (SIOE) over the success of provocative street actions leading to violence.

"I have on some occasions had discussions with SIOE and EDL and recommended them to use certain strategies," he wrote two years ago. "The tactics of the EDL are now to 'lure' an overreaction from the Jihad Youth/Extreme-Marxists, something they have succeeded in doing several times already."

In other words it appears that the promoters of terrorism that Laura Ingraham, and her bosses, are having such difficulty identifying, may in fact be found staring back at them from the mirror. 


(H/T to Moral Low Ground.)

Another brilliant video from D.C. Douglas. (Warning NSFW!)

Today's victim topic, Andrew Breitbart.



(BTW the NSFW stands for "Not Safe For Work," just in case anybody is still confused about that.)

FBI to contact actor Jude Law to gather evidence of News Corp phone hacking in the United States.

Courtesy of the BBC News:

The FBI plans to contact the actor Jude Law following claims that his mobile phone was hacked during a visit to the US, officials have told the BBC.

It is alleged that a 2003 story by the News of the World newspaper was based on information from Law's voicemail.

If the accusation were true, Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation could face charges in the US.

An article in the News of the World published on published on 7 September 2003 gave a detailed account of the actor's communications with his assistant.

Law's phone would have been using an American mobile network if used in the US, which could open the door to charges under US federal law, says the BBC's Steve Kingstone in New York.

Every time I see a story about the investigation moving to US soil it just makes me that much more convinced that the noose is tightening around the flabby neck of Fox News.  And it never fails to put a HUGE smile on my face at the thought.

And by the way the irony that the most damaging evidence against News Corp might come from the British actors that they harassed the most, like Hugh Grant and Jude Law, is not lost on me either.

Rupert's son, James Murdoch, may have been caught lying to the British Parliament. Anybody surprised?

Courtesy of The Guardian:

Tom Crone and Colin Myler must have been well aware that the statement they were about to make could prove fatal to James Murdoch.

When the Guardian pointed out in the wake of his parliamentary testimony that Murdoch's son had sought to blame them for concealment, a friend of the two men said: "To contradict James will be as good as coming out and calling him a liar."

Myler and Crone, the News of the World's then editor and News International's top newspaper lawyer, both of whom have lost their jobs in the wake of the phone-hacking affair, subsequently spent the day debating what to do.

If their statement of Thursday night is correct, then Rupert's son will have proved to have misled parliament. It will also have destroyed the Murdoch family's last line of defence against the scandal: that they knew nothing, and had been betrayed by those underlings they trusted.

I knew the little prick was lying right off the bat.

Gee I wonder who Rupert will have left to hide behind after Junior gets tired of taking the heat and turns on him?

Well I guess he always has that Ninja trained attack wife of his.

Somehow despite Wolf Blitzer's involvement CNN manages to be exciting for once.

You can read more about this exchange here, including this rather interesting bit of information:

Morgan later used his show to press his point further. He also flashed the excerpt from his book in which he recounts how someone had warned him that his phones could be hacked.

"Apparently, if you don't change the standard security code that every phone comes with, then anyone can call your number and, if you don't answer, tap in the standard four-digit code to hear all your messages," he wrote. "I'll change mine just in case, but it makes me wonder how many public figures and celebrities are aware of this little trick.

One commentator on a British gossip website asked: "Why would he mention such a trick unless he was smugly hinting at what was taking place while he was an editor?" Another wondered if Mensch had "hit a nerve?"

Among the pair's Twitter messages, Morgan asked journalists to buy his book, saying it was a "good read."
Mensch Tweeted: "New American readers may wish to know the circumstances in which Morgan left the Mirror."

He was fired in 2004 after authorizing the publication of photographs allegedly showing British Army soldiers torturing Iraqis — but which were actually fakes.

I am not personally a fan of Piers Morgan, and have not bothered to watch the time slot that once belonged to Larry King, except for once when Bill Maher made an appearance on the program.  I liked Maher, but found Morgan insufferable.

Personally I do not find it much of a stretch to consider that Morgan might very well have been involved in the phone hacking, and it is my hope that law enforcement should investigate him to find out one way or the other.

Seems fair, right?

BTW I should admit that I AM a fan of MP Louise Mensch, and found her grilling of Rupert Murdoch while he was testifying before Parliament to be perhaps the most compelling part of what was a VERY entertaining piece of history.

The obvious hypocrisy demonstrated by Fox News in not covering the News Corp phone hacking scandal is tailor made for the Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Horrible Bosses - Fox News Won't Dumpster Dive
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

What goes around, comes around, as News Corp's "The Sun" gets hacked.

 Courtesy of Neowin:

There's been a lot of media coverage around the News of the World hacking scandal this week, it appears that Lulzsec has stepped up against the parent company, Media Corp's other publications and has hacked Rupert Murdoch's major newspapers website, The Sun.

The website today redirected to an article on a elaborate copy of the official Sun website, that claimed Rupert Murdoch had died, and had been found in his garden. 

The Lulzsec official Twitter account claimed they were behind the hack, tweeting; "We have owned Sun/News of the World - that story is simply phase 1 - expect the lulz to flow in coming days." and with a later tweet saying "The Sun's homepage now redirects to the Murdoch death story on the recently-owned New Times website. Can you spell success, gentlemen?"

Oh sweet irony.  I am not much of a fan of those that hack websites, but considering the garbage that Murdoch and his minions are involved with, I think this time I will side with the hackers.

We knew it was coming! Fox News has "Brain Room" where the phone records of Americans are being hacked.

Courtesy of Business Insider:

A former producer with Fox News claimed in a lengthy essay gaining new traction this week that the conservative television station has a "Brain Room" in its New York headquarters, which enables employees to view private telephone records with ease.

Though published years ago, the allegations have returned to relevance in the wake of the phone hacking scandals that have rocked News Corporation to its very core, threatening to topple one of the world's largest and most powerful media conglomerates.

According to former Fox News executive Dan Cooper, whose gripes with his former employer run quite deep, Fox News chief Roger Ailes allegedly had him design the so-called "Brain Room" to facilitate counter-intelligence efforts and other "black ops."

In a lengthy 2008 diatribe said to have doubled as a book pitch, Cooper claimed his own phone records had been hacked by Fox News employees, who he says used them to pinpoint him as a source used by David Brock, who founded liberal watchdog group Media Matters.

"Ailes knew I had given Brock the interview," he wrote. "Certainly Brock didn't tell him. Of course. Fox News had gotten Brock's telephone records from the phone company, and my phone number was on the list. Deep in the bowels of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, News Corporation's New York headquarters, was what Roger called the Brain Room. Most people thought it was simply the research department of Fox News. But unlike virtually everybody else, because I had to design and build the Brain Room, I knew it also housed a counterintelligence and black ops office. So accessing phone records was easy pie."

See?  I told you it would lead back to Fox News!

My fervent hope is that the FBI get themselves a search warrant and GAIN ACCESS TO THAT ROOM!

Ladies and gentlemen I would bet my house that if they could get in there THAT would be the end of Fox News, Roger Ailes, and Rupert Murdoch.  There is no doubt in my mind.

You know the part that really pisses me off?  That I already KNEW about this story, and even wrote about it, but it completely slipped my mind until I read this article.

Some investigative reporter I turned out to be.

Rupert Murdoch protege, Rebekah Brooks, arrested over phone hacking scandal! Update!

Courtesy of The Daily Mail:

Former News International executive Rebekah Brooks was today sensationally arrested over the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

The 43-year-old was held when she arrived for a pre-arranged appointment at a central London police station - two days before she is due to give evidence to MPs. 

The ex-News of the World editor, who is tenth person to be arrested in connection with allegations of corruption and phone hacking, resigned from her job on Friday.

Mrs Brooks is believed to be being held at Lewisham police station. She attended voluntarily and said she is 'assisting police with investigations'.

She is in custody as part of the ongoing investigations by officers from Operation Weeting looking at phone hacking and Operation Elveden, investigating inappropriate payments to police.

She was arrested on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications.

Mrs Brooks' arrest comes after it was revealed that Britain's top police officer accepted a free five-week stay at a top health spa where News of the World hacking suspect Neil Wallis was a PR consultant.

She is "assisting police with investigations." If you don't think those words send a chill up the spine of Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes than you have not been paying attention.


I have a feeling that this thing is still only at its beginning stages, and that when the dust finally settles there are going to be some very serious changes in how journalism is conducted in Britain, and hopefully America as well.

Update: It looks like another domino just fell.

The commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Services, Sir Paul Stephenson, resigned his post on Sunday just hours after his officers arrested Rebekah Brooks, the former chief of Rupert Murdoch’s media operations in Britain, as damage from a phone-hacking scandal moved to the highest levels of British public life.

In a news conference, Sir Paul said his position was “in danger of being eclipsed by the ongoing debate by senior officers and the media. And this can never be right,” according to a report by The Guardian.

The Metropolitan Police, commonly referred to as Scotland Yard, has come under harsh scrutiny in recent days, accused in the press and by British politicians of currying too close a relationship with tabloid executives.

Like I said this thing is just in the beginning stages. So far almost every day has seen the new allegations and new resignations, from my perspective it feels like the momentum is picking up NOT getting ready to crest nor diminish.


Anybody of a differing opinion?

FBI begins probe to investigate allegations that News Corp hacked phones of 9-11 victims. Well now, things just got a LOT more interesting!

Courtesy of the LA Times:

Responding to allegations from several Washington lawmakers, the FBI has opened an investigation into whether Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. attempted to hack into the telephones of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the families of those who died.

According to federal law enforcement sources, the decision by the FBI's field office in New York to launch the criminal probe came after several members of Congress raised concerns in letters to FBI headquarters, questioning whether reporters for the media empire may have tried to compromise Sept. 11 victims just as they reportedly hacked into the phones of numerous individuals in England.

"We are doing this based on their requests," said an FBI source, who asked not to be identified because the investigation is just getting underway. "But after reviewing the letters and their allegations, and after consultation with the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York, we are proceeding."

At the Department of Justice, officials also acknowledged they are "reviewing" the allegations by Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and others that Sept. 11 victims and families may have been put at risk by News Corp.

"If these allegations are proven true," King wrote in his letter to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, "the conduct would merit felony charges for attempting to violate various federal statutes related to corruption of public officials and prohibitions against wiretapping. Any person found guilty of this purported conduct should receive the harshest sanctions available under law."

I have to imagine that there are those working at Fox News right now who are trying desperately to clear their email trash bins and clean up their hard drives before the investigation leads the FBI right to their door. Because folks, you just KNOW that this was not something that just took place on the other side of the Atlantic.

I also have to imagine that there are some disgruntled ex-News Corp, and Fox News employees that are more than willing to help the FBI with their case.

Remember when I promised you that this would be a great summer?

Well to be honest there was really NO WAY I could have imagined that it would be THIS great!

Keith Olbermann reveals the tactics that Rupert Murdoch uses to keep his employees in line.

 My favorite part comes toward the end.

 "And when the tide recedes there will be nothing left. Not of News Corp, not of Fox News, not of Rupert Murdoch."

See? Even Keith Olbermann believes that it is possible THIS will be the end of Murdoch.

Maybe this is like in a "Peter Pan" play.

If all of us believe and clap hard enough, instead of bringing Tinkerbell back to life, we can wish for the demise of Fox News. And it will happen.

Worth a shot.

(H/T to Politicususa.)

US taxpayers subsidized Rupert Murdoch's efforts to destroy journalism in this country to the tune of 4.8 billion dollars! Update! Important correction.

From Reuters:

Rupert Murdoch may not garner as much attention for his financial savvy as he does for his journalistic escapades, which last week led to the shuttering of Britain’s oldest tabloid. But that doesn’t make his money management any less impressive.

Indeed, when it comes to taxes, instead of rendering unto Caesar, Murdoch has Caesar rendering unto him.

Over the past four years Murdoch’s U.S.-based News Corp. has made money on income taxes. Having earned $10.4 billion in profits, News Corp. would have been expected to pay $3.6 billion at the 35 percent corporate tax rate. Instead, it actually collected $4.8 billion in income tax refunds, all or nearly all from the U.S. government.

Low life, scum sucking, son-of-a-bitch!

Here I thought I could not dislike Rupert Murdoch anymore than I already do, and then I learn this!

There you go Americans.  While our economy is suffering through historic hard times, and our neighbors cannot find jobs to feed their families, our tax dollars are going to subsidize a man who has purposefully lied to the citizens of this country, provided a platform for constant attacks against our President, and helped sell TWO unnecessary wars to the American people!

There is no place in hell hot enough to adequately punish this cancerous piece of human excrement.

Update: Well at least THIS is some good news today:

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. media empire dropped its bid to takeover lucrative British Sky Broadcasting on Wednesday ahead of a House of Commons vote in which all three major parties were to issue that very demand.

News Corp. deputy chairman and president Chase Carey said "it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate."

Gee, ya think?


Well this is a start, but personally I will not be satisfied until Murdoch has been run out of the news business forever. And takes all of those phony journalists at Fox News with him, by the way.


Yes I know that I am being unrealistic, but a man can dream can't he?

Correction: The journalist who wrote the initial article that I based this post on, has admitted he made a rather large mistake.


Rupert Murdoch's News Corp did not get a $4.8 billion tax refund for the past four years, as I reported. Instead, it paid that much in cash for corporate income taxes for the years 2007 through 2010 while earning pre-tax profits of $10.4 billion.

For the first time in my 45-year-old career I am writing a skinback. That is what journalists call a retraction of the premise of a piece, as in peeling back your skin and feeling the pain. I will do all I can to make sure everyone who has read or heard secondary reports based on my column also learns the facts and would appreciate the help of readers in that cause.

The journalist, David Cay Johnston, then goes on to explain how he made the error in some detail.

I apologize for my part in disseminating this information. I placed my confidence in the reporter, and it seems he simply made an honest mistake.  I understand mistakes, I make them myself quite frequently.

However like Mr. Johnston, and unlike some people who attempt to double down on an error, I try to own up to my mistakes. And so I have.

I will of course continue to try and provide only accurate information in the future.  However I simply cannot promise that I will not slip up occasionally. I am only human.