Ex-News Corp. Exec Charged in Phone-Hacking Scandal

Rebekah Brooks, the former head of News Corp.'s British newspaper unit, was charged Tuesday with interfering with a police investigation into the phone-hacking scandal that continues to shake Rupert Murdoch's international media empire.

Reuters reports that Brooks is charged with hiding potential evidence from police, including documents, computers, and other electronic equipment, and conspiring to remove records from Murdoch archives.

Brooks' husband Charles, her former assistant Cheryl Carter, ex-head of security for News International Mark Hanna, a security staff employee, and Brooks' chauffeur will also face charges of obstruction of justice, the Associated Press reports. The charges are the first in a relaunched investigation into the phone hacking and bribery scandal (and its cover-up).

As the Wall Street Journal notes, Brooks has previously been arrested on corruption and conspiring to intercept communications charges, for which she is still out on bail.