“Do you have someone who can leak the case to the press?”

Laila Anita Bertheussen sent photos of the dismantled car to Ingvil Smine’s Tybring-Gjedde and asked if she could leak them to the press.

“Do you have someone who can leak the case to the press?”

It is the prosecutor Marit Formo who is the first to ask questions of the prosecution. She began by asking how often Bertheussen turned the cameras on and off.

Bertheussen couldn’t say how often it happened.

– What did you do physically?

– There was a switch in a small cabinet where clips could be cut.

When asked by the prosecutor, he said it happened when he went out on the terrace to smoke. He did this because he often goes out on the terrace without clothes.

Formo showed in court an NRK online case that had a photo of the car that was tagged.

– Do you know how NRK got hold of this image?

No, Bertheussen replied.

The prosecutor then produced messages about Messanger and showed communication between Ingvil SMine’s Tybring-Gjedde and Bertheussen.

– Do you have someone to leak the case ?, Bertheussen wrote in a message.

And then several photos of the car were shown, which were sent by phone from Bertheussen to Tybring-Gjedde.

The foreign minister responded when she tipped NRK about the images.

– Why would you leak it to the press?

– Sometimes I am a bit ragged, answered Bertheussen.

When asked by the prosecutor why he would leak when the case was investigated, he answered the following.

– I didn’t reflect that at all.

It is the prosecutor Marit Formo who on Wednesday is the first to ask questions in the case against Laila Anita Bertheussen. She began by asking how often Bertheussen turned the cameras on and off in the family home.

Bertheussen couldn’t say how often it happened.

– What did you do physically?

– There was a switch in a small cabinet where clips could be cut.

When asked by the prosecutor, he said it happened when he went out on the terrace to smoke. He did this because he often goes out on the terrace without clothes.

Leaks to the media

Formo showed in court an NRK online case that had a photo of the car that was tagged.

– Do you know how NRK got hold of this image?

– No, answered Bertheussen.

Then the prosecutor took messages on Messenger and showed communication between Ingvil Smine’s Tybring-Gjedde and Bertheussen.

Tybring-Gjedde was at that time Secretary of State in the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy for FRP and, since January 2019, he became Minister of Emergency Preparedness of the government.

– Do you have someone to leak the case ?, Bertheussen wrote in a message to Tybring-Gjedde.

Several images of the car were then shown, which were sent by Bertheussen’s phone to Tybring-Gjedde.

Tybring-Gjedde responded when she tipped NRK on the photos. At least one of these images ended up on NRK.

– Why would you leak it to the press? Asked the prosecutor.

“Sometimes I’m a bit raggedy,” Bertheussen responded in court.

When asked by the prosecutor why he would be leaking when the case was investigated, he replied as follows:

– I didn’t reflect that at all.

Bertheussen eventually admitted that the photos were sent to Rita Karlsen, who is the head of the Human Rights Service and an active writer on the organization’s Rights.no website.

– The fact that you asked Ingvil to filter it, did you feel like connecting it to the theater?

– No, Bertheussen answered briefly.

During a break, prosecutor Frederik Ranke says they believe it was Tybring-Gjedde who sent the photos to the press.

– It was Bertheussen who started it all, and Ingvil Smine’s Tybring-Gjedde who sent the images to the press, says Ranke.

During the court recess, Aftenposten also spoke to Tybring-Gjedde about the leaks to the press. He does not want to comment on what has come out in court today.

Tip even journalists

Formo then went on to delve deeper into Bertheussen’s direct or indirect contact with the media. Several messages were referenced.

“If you feel your fingers itching, feel free to turn on the media,” Bertheussen wrote in a message to Rita Karlsen, who runs Rights.no.

– There was a lot of nonsense about that group, answered Bertheussen who several times had to answer “I don’t remember” the questions.

– Have you had contact with a VG journalist?

– I think I tipped them on something, but I don’t remember what it was. Now you have a better overview than mine.

Formo then touched on another Messenger dialogue with Rita Karlsen. There it is said that she sent a photo of an SMS exchange with a VG journalist.

“You haven’t heard this from me,” the message began.

In another message, Bertheussen writes to a named person if he can tell VG that Bertheussen has reviewed Black Box Teater.

Formo referred to another message where the message was “discreet” advice for VG.

– What was the reason why VG should receive a notice about its revision?

– So there were many lies about me in the media. It was a request I received from many, replied Bertheussen.

– Why should the public know that they were reviewed by you?

– It was to pressure not to withdraw the case.

In another message, he asks a VG journalist to remain anonymous before giving him specific information about the review.

When the prosecutor asked whether Bertheussen had more contact with VG journalists in retrospect, the 55-year-old replied again “I don’t remember.”

New “love letter” and complete “party” in Vækerøveien

The prosecutor also asked him if he had used VG’s solution to be able to tip VG anonymously.

– I do not know. I do not remember.

– Do you remember that you had contact with Rita Karlsen that day?

– I can’t hsuke kesakt, but it’s not unlikely. We had a lot of contact at that time.

Prosecutor Formo then recorded a new Messenger dialogue.

– New “love letter” and complete “party” in Vækerøveien, wrote to Karlsen on March 2, 2019.

This message was sent the same day a new letter arrived and dust was found on the couple’s postal axis. She also said that the bomb squad was on site and working at the site.

Bertheussen also tells Karlsen about the dust in the mailbox. Then Karlsen wrote about whether he should write about it. The prosecutor wondered why Bertheussen leaked information about this while the police were working on the plot.

– It would be known anyway, replied the 55-year-old who asked Karlsen to remain anonymous.

When asked if he thought this was in the initial phase of the investigation, Bertheussen replied that he had not thought about it.

Prosecutor Ranke asked how it could be related to taking the filming of the house very seriously, but not so much because of the vandalism and threats the couple received.

– I assumed it was the young men who were behind, answered Bertheussen.