Free Republic

U.S. prosecutors have sent News Corp. a letter seeking information about possible payments made by its U.K. tabloid newspapers to British policemen, according to people familiar with the matter. The letter of request, sent last week, is part of a Justice Department investigation, these people said, into whether the company violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a U.S. law that prohibits companies from bribing foreign officials. The fact the Justice Department chose to issue a "letter of request" rather than a criminal subpoena suggests the department has opted for a less confrontational approach to the matter, legal experts say.

Despite fielding a prime time lineup made up almost entirely of sub hosts (except Alan Colmes who apparently drew the short straw and had to work), FOX still dominated the evening nearly 3:1 over CNN. Grace beat Zahn…er…I mean Grace beat CNN Presents which stood in for Zahn. Deutsch double scratched for the evening. Connected scratched in the afternoon. (numbers courtesy of FOX News) TOTAL DAY FNC — 955,000 CNN — 458,000 HLN — 234,000 MSNBC — 187,000 CNBC — 117,000 TOTAL DAY 25-54 FNC — 298,000 CNN — 155,000 HLN — 110,000 MSNBC — 76,000 CNBC — 43,000 PRIMETIME...