Murdoch Paper Got Former PM's Medical Records

Politico reports:

Rupert Murdoch will delay indefinitely his attempted $19 billion acquisition of satellite provider BSkyB as new revelations surfaced that the private medical records of then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s family were illegally obtained by other News Corp. outlets, according to British news reports Monday.

The BSKyB move came in the form of a withdrawal of News Corp.’s offer to spin off its Sky News division, which was required before U.K. regulators would allow the takeover bid to proceed. It does not necessarily end Murdoch’s takeover bid, but will mean “a long delay,” the BBC said.

The news comes as the Guardian reported hackers working on behalf of Murdoch’s Sunday Times and Sun newspapers targeted former Labour party leader Brown’s voicemail and bank, medical and legal records.

The Guardian reported Rebekah Wade, then the editor of the Sun and now the CEO of News International, called Brown in 2006 to inform him that the paper had “obtained details from the medical file of their four-month-old son, Fraser, which revealed that the boy was suffering from cystic fibrosis.”