Oli Scarff / AP Photo
Now even the Prime Minister is taking heat for the weekend piece in The New York Times Magazine detailing how two News of the World staffers—a reporter and a private investigator employed by Britain’s largest paper—hacked into the phones of British royal family aides. Clive Goodman, a reporter, and Glenn Mulcaire, an investigator working for the paper, obtained PIN codes to access the voicemail inboxes of royal aides, and News of the World used the messages to run stories about Prince Harry’s personal life in 2006. A Scotland Yard investigation has revealed that Mulcaire potentially hacked into the phone messages of more than thousands of people. The article details that then-editor Andy Coulson “actively encouraged” phone hacking and the newsroom was “out of control” under his leadership. Coulson resigned from his post but denied involvement in the hacking, although sources now say “even the office cat” knew. British PM David Cameron went on to hire Coulson as his communications chief, saying “I believe in giving people a second chance.” Now that it seems the hacking was much more extensive than believed, Cameron must choose whether or not to stand by his man.