Rusbridger’s Sworn Statement Misleads Leveson Over Hacking
In his sworn statement the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, tells Lord Justice Leveson that to the best of his knowledge he has never used or commissioned anyone who had used “computer hacking”. Here is the extract from Rusbridger’s witness statement:
Except Patrick Foster on the Guardian media pages. He has twice been caught hacking computers. The latest incident was the disgraceful hacking of the police blogger NightJack’s Hotmail account. The Orwell Prize winning blogger was outed by Patrick Foster when he was on media correspondent of The Times. This was up there with his Oxford undergraduate days when the student rag had to be pulped after he identified the victim of a gay rape. Foster was subsequently fired from The Times on an unrelated matter and now freelances for the Guardian. It is an open secret that Patrick Foster was Guardian Media editor Dan Sabbagh’s nark source at The Times for many “inside Wapping” stories and that The Times’ management eventually figured this out and fired him under another pretext.
Rusbridger really ought to correct his sworn statement to reflect the truth.
But lefties are nicer people, they would not lie!
Polly said so!
I expect with this news that Alan will now close the Guardian and set up a fund to pay victims?
Whooooooops !
With just over 350,000 readers (20,000 at the BBC) your future looks bleak.
Let’s hope the offshore, tax haven trust thingy really does work out for you….or you are doomed.
I find’s the Guardian excellent for keeping me warm at night
Grawnyad telling fibs? Well I never!!
It’s also pretty good for lining the cat’s litter tray.
It’s pages are too small, you need the Telegraph to get a good night’s sleep.
When will the Coalition stop all government advertising in the Guardian that helps prop up this bigoted & offensive dead tree propaganda sheet?
Are the guardian blacking out their website in protest over new internet laws in the States? NO.
Why is it the British media doesn’t care about this? are we so censored they just don’t care anymore. Here’s todays wikipedia…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
And here’s when the lolcats died (really quite good)
A proportion of every website registration in the world goes to ICAN.
Why?
What happened to no taxation without representation?
The British media are part of the establishment that’s why newspapers have been slowly dieing for years, the public have found out via the internet from foreign news sources what they have not been told by British newspapers , the papers theses days are really football newspapers with adverts.
Your present continuous is up the creek.
Otherwise agree.
Hislop made some excellent points yesterday. If the laws we have were used and some rich media gits used the front door of Downing Street and not the secretive back one, we would all be better off. Cowtowing to Murdochs and employing failed ex reporters as goverment press secretaries
is a quick fire way to top corruption. Knacker of the Yard doesn’t come out of the smelling too sweet does he?
I was just using Wikipedia, working normally except you can’t edit pages. Must depend on what URL you use to access it.
‘Nightjack’ was a fantastic blog – Foster needs his pea-brained head kicking in for getting it closed down.
Agree. It does not explain why the editor ran the story which was plainly pique on the part of the Times that a blogger was daring to write outside of their pallisade. The Times story had no real public interest defence – they were trying to protect their own interests, not ours.
The public interest was always that Nightjack be allowed to go on writing for the illumination and education of the public. The Times put that candle out.
Hack a hotmail account?
Is that as in, write or obtain a fiendish script that attacks weeknesses in the hardware? Or type in a few crap passwords?
“he guessed security questions for an anonymous email account”
So mother’s maiden name and all that.
Doesnt that come under the “its not hacking if its easy” rule of phone `hacking`
All lefties are corrupt liars, every last one. Rusbridger is leftie-in-chief and thus bound to be the worst of them all. He hires his girlfriends too, the nepotistic, scumbag filth.
Note the weasel words “to the best of your knowledge”. Rusbridger can claim ignorance of these incidents and his sworn statement will still be kosher.
Indeed, all these journalists and editors who knew for certain that all this hacking was going on, was widespread, but have massive memory failures of their own part in it and no personal knowledge of their won personal culpability.
Let’s face it, these are Fleet Street hacks being questioned. These are people who are paid to lie to the public every day! They are lying their asses off.
Must have been coached by Rendition Jack – same defence, not on my watch, can’t monitor all the underlings all the time…
Of course this use of words is wrong when used by staff of NI or by big Rupe.
He’s only misleading Levenson (wrt Foster) if you deliberately misinterpret “used” to mean “ever” rather than the plain meaning of the question “for you or your newspaper”
Oh yes. Bum. Totally invalidates my comment then.
Guido being a bit misleading here over interpretation of the question. The question doesn’t ask if they have used or commissioned anyone who may have used hacking on a previous commission for a former employer? There is no evidence here of hacking for stories for The Grauniad (yet). Leaking, maybe. But hacking no.
Foster only started freelancing for the Graun in June 2011 according to his website, when Leveson was on the brink of being announced. It would be such a dumb thing to commission a known email hacker at that point that I can’t help thinking Rusbridger is probably telling the truth. He didn’t know.
Unless of course Foster hacking Nightjack’s email has been another “open secret” all this time. In which case Rusbridger did know, and still took the risk of commissioning Foster, or at least ok-ing it. Why? Was Foster’s narking entirely a one-way street? What was he getting in return?
Yep Guido, misinterpreting the question to suit your agenda does not make you look big and clever.
I will be amazing at today’s pmqs. All my mps have been ordered to tweet later today that I was strong and assured. There will be consequences if they fail to remember: the leader is good, the leader is great.
Don’t forget My Hero! he’s available for consultation you know, – and we need the money!
Is Ed Militwit the Captain Schettino of Labour?
Good one!
There’d be a cracking cartoon of Union Len McCLuskey urging Miliband to get back on the already sunken ship …
If only Rich and Mark were capable of drawing it …
Someone should tell that Leveson that he is not in a court of law but heading up an independent Enquiry.
Independent of what or whom remains one of life’s mysteries.
His general demeanor and interrogatory style is more akin to High Court litigation which doesn’t come cheap.
Dave set this whole thing up on my behalf to achieve what I have only the vaguest of ideas.
I Only hope Dave is holding weekly or biweekly review meetings to check how things are coming along .
personally I have not been too impressed with what I have seen and heard to date. Hopefully time remains to bring in a new chairperson for the whole show.
Do you know the email address for the Leveson Enquiry Complaints Section?
We don’t need to talk – or tell t’troof – to Little People!
Now leave us!
Didn’t David Leigh admit to voicemail hacking?
sic. But you overlook Guardianista slippery semantics – not ‘admit’, but ‘boast’ – as in hollow natch. Lying bastards all of them.
Wow this guy is such a low life sleaze bag , no depths he wont stoop to , totally untrustworthy and a liar !
Has he ever considered a career in politics ?
Too dishonest even to enter politics?
Mornin mate!
You really can’t remember your moniker, can you?
Of course I can remember my moniker, it’s København.
Mornin mate how’s yer alps ?
There’s a new thread, honkys! Go play divide and rule there!
Well they can’t all be as principled as your idol Kelvin Mackenzie can they Guido?
Just been on’th news IMF want a shit load more cash off us
Possibly as much as 17 billion towards their new one trillion bail out fund
Osbourne only agreed ten billion , he will have to go back to parliament
Apparently Labour have already said no to the ten billion increase
i’d tell the IMF to go fuck e’m selves
all reminds me of the blackadder scetch where the queen nicks all his money !
Does any body else get the urge to buy sulphuric acid
ever time Liam Byrne
sticks his face on the box ?
And, without any trace of irony, today’s Guardian contains an article attacking the Times for employing Mr Foster without at any point mentioning the fact that he now works for said Guardian.
Guardian logic.
Bad person works for The Times = The Time is eeeevvvvilllll!
Bad person works for The Guardian = The Time is eeeevvvvilllll!
Can’t you read? The last paragraph of the article (print version as well as web) clearly states that Foster has subsequently worked for the Guardian and the Daily Telegraph. With eyesight like yours I hope you don’t drive that Lorry!
Rusbridger is a twat. I just wanted to make that clear.
Guido, I know you hate the guardian, but you are missing the point…
The question you should be asking is why The Times printed the Night Jack story, knowing full well that Patrick had got it by hacking the chap’s hotmail account. The decision to run it was sanctioned at the highest level.
FFS, do you not think anyone asked where it came from before getting the injunction overturned?