UK: The Sun’s politics editor charged over bribery

LONDON — Britain’s prosecutors say The Sun tabloid’s politics editor Clodagh Hartley has been charged over a conspiracy to pay thousands of pounds (dollars) worth of bribes to a press officer working in the British government’s tax department.

Prosecutors say The Sun paid bribes to press officer Jonathan Hall in return for information about unannounced spending plans, deficit reduction work, and policy decisions. Hall, 51, was also charged in relation to the payments.

Hartley, 38, was arrested last year as part of a sprawling bribery probe linked to Britain’s phone hacking scandal. The investigation has already ensnared some of The Sun’s most senior staffers.

The Sun’s executive editor, its deputy editor, its defense editor, and its former chief reporter all face charges. So does The Sun’s former editor, Rebekah Brooks.