Murdoch editor, aides charged in scandal

LONDON -- One of Rupert Murdoch's most trusted lieutenants and five people close to her were charged yesterday 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 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 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 lawbreaking allegedly involved removing computers and files in the frantic days last summer when Murdoch shut down his tainted Sunday tabloid, the 168-year-old News of the World, in an attempt to halt a tide of public disgust over the hacking furor.

Between July 6 and July 19 last year, the period covered in the charges, Brooks was struggling unsuccessfully to remain as chief executive of News International, the British division of Murdoch's News Corp. Faced with a revolt by advertisers and public uproar at the behavior of his journalists, Murdoch announced his decision to close the News of The World on July 7, while Brooks quit her high-profile role on July 15.

Brooks and her husband rejected the charges. As they stood side-by-side in front of their lawyers' office, Charlie Brooks slammed what he described as a "witch hunt" targeting his wife.

"I have grave doubts that my wife can ever get a fair trial, given the huge volume of biased commentary which she has been subjected to," the 49-year-old racehorse trainer said.

Rebekah Brooks said she was baffled and furious at the charges. "I cannot express my anger enough that those close to me have unfairly been dragged into this," she said.