In a blockbuster declaration at Britains phone hacking trial,a prosecutor said two of Rupert Murdochs former senior tabloid executives Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson,later a top aide to Prime Minister David Cameron had an affair lasting at least six years. Prosecutor Andrew Edis made the disclosure Thursday during Coulson and Brooks trial on phone hacking,the first major criminal case to go to court in the hacking saga that has shaken Britains political,judicial and media elite. Brooks,Coulson and six other people are now on trial,including Brooks current husband Charles. All deny the various charges against them,which range from phone hacking to bribing officials to obstructing police investigations. Edis said the relationship between Brooks and Coulson was relevant to the hacking case because it showed they trusted one another and shared intimate information. Throughout the period,what Coulson knew Brooks knew,and what Brooks knew Coulson knew, Edis said. Edis said the affair began in 1998 and lasted about six years. If his timeline is correct,the affair ended before Coulson became Camerons top communications director,which began after Camerons election in 2010. Coulson started working for Cameron in 2007,when the latter became leader of Britains Conservative opposition party. The affair covered the period when Brooks was the top editor of Murdochs News of the World tabloid and Coulson was her deputy. Edis said a Feb 2004 letter from Brooks showed there was absolute confidence between the two of them in relation to all the problems at their work. He said the letter appeared to have been written by Brooks in response to Coulsons attempt to end the relationship. You are my very best friend. I tell you everything. I confide in you,I seek your advice, Brooks wrote,according to Edis. Without our relationship in my life,I am really not sure I will cope.
