‘Smoking Gun’ e-mails Expose News of the World’s 2007 Scandal

News International officials are facing charges of an alleged cover-up regarding hacking and other widespread criminal activity by British tabloid, New of the World.

In 2007, News International conducted an internal inquiry and found around smoking gun e-mails that suggested widespread criminal activity by News of the World reporters, including hacking and bribery to police.

However, this information was not handed over to the Metropolitan Police for further investigation until the 20th of June, 2011.

BBC reported that these emails were in the possession of the firm of solicitors, Harbottle & Lewis. They were retrieved from Harbottle & Lewis by lawyers acting for News Interernational and for William Lewis - general manager of News International - who is in charge of News International's clean-up of what went wrong at the News of the World.

The documents reveal that a network of six journalists functioned as 'gatekeepers' to private investigator Glenn Mulcaire who carried out large-scale hacking for the paper.

Harbottle & Lewis confirmed in a letter to the Commons culture, media and sport select committee to conduct a review on the scandal.

The committee, which monitors the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated bodies, held an emergency debate 6 July, 2011. The debate dwelled on whether there should be a public inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World and conduct of the Metropolitan Police Service.

Earlier, News of the World claimed that phone hacking activities were done by the paper's royal reporter, Clive Goodman who was jailed in 2007. Goodman was found intercepting mobile phone messages involving members of the Royal Household.

However, the new documents found revealed that the illegal hacking activities were not confined only to Goodman and involved a much broader network.