Inquiry Grills Murdoch Lobbyist

News Corp. lobbyist Frédéric Michel appeared before the Leveson Inquiry into the ethics of the British press on Thursday to answer allegations that he communicated with an adviser to the British culture minister, who was overseeing News Corp.'s $12 billion bid to take over the cable company BSkyB. Michel admitted to exchanging phone calls, texts, and email messages with Adam Smith, the government aide, though he denied knowledge that Smith was feeding his communications to the culture minister. Smith resigned last month after a trove of emails revealed the close relationship and making a damning case that he had communicated with Murdoch's lobbyist.