Rebekah Brooks busted

Wow, just wow.

Rebekah Brooks has been arrested by police investigating allegations of phone hacking by the News of the World and allegations that police officers were bribed to leak sensitive information.

The Metropolitan police said a 43-year-old woman was arrested at noon on Sunday, by appointment at a London police station.

Brooks, 43, resigned on Friday as News International’s chief executive. She is a former News of the World editor and was close to Rupert Murdoch and the prime minister, David Cameron.

A spokesman for Brooks said she did not know she was going to be arrested when she handed in her resignation.

Brooks was taken into custody at midday on Sunday, after agreeing to attend a London police station for questioning. Her spokesman, Bell Pottinger chairman David Wilson, said she did not know she was to meet with police until late on Friday, and that she did not know the appointment would result in her arrest.

Meanwhile, on this side of the pond Roger Ailes and Lorrie Goldstein remain at large.

UPDATE: The Daily Dish makes a good point about the coincidence of Brooks being arrested at this point.

Since this story is no place for the naive, the appropriate measure of cynicism demands one ask why Brooks has been arrested today? At the very least this development is likely to make a mockery of her appearance before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on Tuesday.

One imagines Brooks’ lawyers will suggest she come armed with one answer to any and all questions: “I’m sorry but these are matters currently being investigated by the police and I would not want to jeopardise or otherwise prejudice those enquiries. Accordingly I am afraid that I cannot answer your question.”

Cross posted at Let Freedom Rain.