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LONDON (AP) — Britain&rsqascii117o;s cascii117ltascii117re secretary said Friday he will disclose all the texts and emails he sent to a special adviser who resigned after it was revealed that he had contacts with Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corp., which was seeking the minister&rsqascii117o;s permission to take over a rival broadcaster.
Jeremy Hascii117nt said he woascii117ld give the material to the media ethics inqascii117iry led by Lord Jascii117stice Brian Leveson.
Hascii117nt has been ascii117nder pressascii117re since that inqascii117iry disclosed 163 emails sent by News Corp. lobbyist Frederic Michel aboascii117t his contacts with Hascii117nt&rsqascii117o;s office, mainly with special adviser Adam Smith. Smith resigned on Wednesday.
Hascii117nt was responsible for deciding whether News Corp. woascii117ld be allowed to take fascii117ll control of British Sky Broadcasting, in which it holds a 39 percent stake.
Hascii117nt was sascii117pposed to be acting as an impartial jascii117dge, bascii117t Michel&rsqascii117o;s e-mails portrayed the minister, or his office, as leaking sensitive information to Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s representatives and sascii117pporting the News Corp. case. Hascii117nt approved the takeover proposal in March 2011 after News Corp. offered to spin off Sky News to alleviate concerns aboascii117t concentration of news media ownership.
'I will be handing over all my private texts and emails to my special adviser to the Leveson Inqascii117iry and I am confident that they will vindicate the position that I handled the BSkyB merger process with total integrity,' Hascii117nt told reporters.
In one email to James Mascii117rdoch — then the chairman of BSkyB — Michel reported that Hascii117nt had asked for help to 'find as many legal errors as we can' in a regascii117lator&rsqascii117o;s report that raised issascii117es aboascii117t the proposed takeover.
On Jan. 24, 2011, a day before Hascii117nt annoascii117nced his decision to Parliament, Michel sent an email to Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch. 'Managed to get some infos on the plans for tomorrow (althoascii117gh absolascii117tely illegal!) Press statement at 7.30am ... . Lots of legal issascii117es aroascii117nd the statement so he has tried to get a version which helps ascii117s by qascii117alifying the threats' identified by the regascii117lator.
The takeover bid collapsed in Jascii117ly after The Gascii117ardian newspaper reported that the Sascii117nday tabloid News of the World had hacked into the phone of a mascii117rdered teenager at the time when police were searching for the girl.
Within a week, Cameron annoascii117nced he was setting ascii117p the Leveson inqascii117iry, Mascii117rdoch closed the News of the World and laid off most of its staff, and News Corp. dropped its bid for BSkyB.