Whitehall editor of Sun arrested , faces £17,475 charge
The Whitehall editor of the Sun, Clodagh Hartley, was arrested when she attended Bromley Police Station by appointment this morning.
The Sun: Whitehall editor arrested
She is charged along with two others with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office in relation to payment for information including details of the government's 2010 deficit reduction plans.
Hartley, 37,who became the paper’s first female lobby journalist three years ago, has worked in Los Angeles for the paper and has also been the consumer affairs correspondent and home affairs correspondent.
It is understood she has been on maternity leave from the paper .
The Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that Hartley was being charged, along with Jonathan Hall, a HMRC press officer, and his partner, Marta Bukarewicz. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.
It is alleged that between 30 March 2008 and 15 July 2011 the Sun paid £17,475 to Hall, mostly via Bukarawicz, for "unauthorised disclosure of information obtained as a result of his employment with HMRC".
Hartley, was originally arrested and freed on bail last May by officers from Scotland Yard's Operation Elveden. All three charged are still on bail.
Hartley is the sixth Sun journalist charged as a result of the investigation into alleged illegal payments by journalists to public officials.
The CPS said in a statement, "The information provided included details about government plans, including upcoming but as yet unannounced spending and policy decisions relating to the 2010 Budget and the coalition government's deficit reduction plans.
"Information also related specifically to policy and decision-making within HMRC, including that relating to job losses and casework."
All three are due to appear before Westminster magistrates' court on 29 May.
Operation Elveden was set up in 2011. It is running in conjunction with Operation Weeting, Scotland Yard's investigation into phone hacking, and has resulted in more than 60 arrests.
More than 20 current or former Sun executives and journalists have been arrested. Six have been charged . The crime editor Mike Sullivan, has been cleared and told he faces no further action.
Four former police officers and an ex-prison officer have been convicted of passing information to newspapers as a result of Operation Elveden.