PELLICANO GUILTY "The Hollywood private investigator, Anthony Pellicano was found guilty Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles of using wiretaps and other illegal tactics to gather information for rich and famous clients involved in divorces or legal disputes. Mr. Pellicano, 64, was convicted of 76 of the 77 charges he faced." [NYT]

Six years later, the Anthonly Pellicano trial is finally wrapping up. Closing arguments were heard! Thank god, because this was seriously starting to get in the way of discussing more pressing topics, like Katie Couric's ratings and whether Miley Cyrus covered her chest with drapes or a dress. [HuffPo]

Perhaps now that Conde Nast is absolutely aware one of its IT guys is a serial leaker and has a career history of snooping, they'll be able to narrow down who makes a hobby out of leaking info to the gossips. [NYT]

The Anthony Pellicano trial finally gets interesting with the testimony of hedge fund manager Adam Sender, who said the private eye suggested murder as the last resort to get a deadbeat producer to pay up. When the former Kadem Capital partner invested $1 million in a production company with Aaron Russo, of Trading Spaces, and never saw a return on his investment, Sender's attorney Bert Fields suggested Pellicano's "unorthodox methods" of getting some ROI. With Sender ultimately spending another $800,000 on Pellicano to get his money back, the man now representing himself against wiretapping and fraud charges stands accused of suggesting to off Russo (who is now deceased, from cancer) on his way back from a Las Vegas trip. Sender didn't take him up on the offer, but he now professes to be remorseful. "I just went along with it, and I'm sorry. I wish I never did."

Anthony Pellicano's racketeering, conspiracy, wiretapping, witness tampering, identity theft, and destruction of evidence trial is entertaining for oh so many reasons. Not only is there the star wattage – the latest round of which has Chris Rock releasing a 31-minute recorded conversation with Pellicano, from August 2001, discussing what to do about the one-night-stand Monica Zsibrita, who was accusing the comic of rape – but there's also the courtroom serial drama taking place as the former private investigator acts as his own attorney.

Throughout his years in the business, Pellicano proved money could always buy protection. These days, he's proving true the adage "only an idiot represents himself."

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The U.S. Attorney's witness list for Anthony Pellicano's trial has been filed with the court and includes 127 names; and that's just for starters. On the roster: attorney Bertram Fields, Sly Stallone, Paramount head Brad Grey, CAA's Kevin Huvane, Universal head Ron Meyer, ex-Disney chief Michael Ovitz, Chris Rock, Gary Shandling … and Gary Shandling's ex-girlfriend Linda Doucett. [DHD]

As expected, Bing isn't happy with that Liz Hurley-Anthony Pellicano article.

We know what it's like to hear from Steve Bing's attorneys. After this item ran on tabloid cuz MollyGood, we had the pleasure of a few emails and phone calls with the lovely Lynda Goldman at (and where else would she work?) Lavely & Singer. In the end, Bing laughed off the whole incident.

But that's not how things went down with London's Daily Mail in 2003, when they claimed Bing hired Anthony Pellicano to dig up dirt on then-lover Liz Hurley, after she claimed she was pregnant with his child. Cue Bing's passion for threatening to sue, and the Mail caved — issuing a retraction and a cash apology.

Now, the NYT's David Halbfinger and Allison Hope Weiner are laying the groundwork for inviting Bing's infamous litigation with a report that evidence from the Pellicano trial shows Bing paid the P.I. thousands of dollars as early as 2000 and continued through 2002, though it's not clear whether that money was earmarked for investigating Hurley.

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• Jon Fine poo poos Rupert Murdoch's attempts at a business channel.

• Jon Friedman opts for Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart as Time magazine's Person of the Year. To be fair: Not an original idea.

• Ed Bradley, remembered.

• Ex-P6er Ian Spiegelman is prepping his first screenplay. Fittingly, it's horror.

• Former LAT scribe Anita Busch links Mike Ovitz to Anthony Pellicano, which means the threats and intimidation aren't ending anytime soon for her.

• Collegiate blog IvyGate hasn't decided whether they're for or against the Ivy League. Just that there's plenty more Aleksey Vayners out there.

• Today show senior producer Tom Mazzarelli is named exec producer at Fox's in-development morning show. His farewell party last night, we sadly missed.

The New York Times might let Vanity Fair own the Lindsay Lohan, Teri Hatcher, and Hilary Swank scoops, but dammit, they're not going to let the Anthony Pellicano beat out of their grubby, newsprint-stained hands. Even if they've got the play dirty. And it looks like Times scribe Allison Hope Weiner might already be pulling tricks: she's been barred from Los Angeles' Metropolitan Detention Center for misrepresenting herself in an attempt to gain access to the embroiled P.I.

To get Pellicano in a conference room, Weiner reached into the depths of her purse and pulled out her 20-year-old State Bar of California card — enabling her to bypass the Warden Michael Benov's February security order that only Pellicano's lawyer and immediate family could visit. Or that's how Benov tells it. Weiner and the Times, however, maintain she didn't misrepresent herself – which would've violated the paper's policies – and told security guards she was a reporter and a lawyer. Just not Pellicano's lawyer. And should we discover Weiner's lying? Well it'll be Judith Miller Round II, wherein the Times rescinds its support, natch.

Meanwhile, Pellicano's real lawyer, Steven Grue, has this to say about the center's security when it comes to visiting his client: "It's like trying to get into Ft. Knox." Unless you're Steve Segal, and then all you need is a scuba suit and a buckknife and he'll take the Metropolitan Detention Center under siege.

L.A. Jail Bars N.Y. Times Reporter Who Was Let In to Speak With Pellicano [Chuck Philips, LAT]

• Christina Aguilera admits that wearing clothing "makes her feel uncomfortable." [Sun]

• George Clooney's trash is Jeremy Piven's treasure. Is this one staying in Vegas? [Page Six]

• The golden rule of tabloid gossip is broken — Anthony Pellicano's tapes reveal rag sources, and dishers are named. Hmm, wonder why they say gossips have no ethics? [Lowdown]

• Nicole Kidman feels connected to her adopted children's birth parents. "We're just a big, strange family." Yeah, we doubt those people want any part of Tom Cruise's big strange anything. [People]

• Coyotes should have Mischa Barton and Rachel Bilson's leftovers for dinner. In fact, they should just have Mischa and Rachel for dessert, too. [3am]

• This whole Anthony Pellicano thing is really funny, until some Vanity Fair journalist gets hurt. [DHD]

• A girl blogs about her life as a hooker in Brazil … [NYT]

• … While another blogs about her life as a hooker for Ron Burkle. Think Nobu and crazy girls who are now pregnant. [Live Journal]

• Things are moving at Ground Zero. No, they are. We're not lying. [AP]

• It wasn't Amy Fischer's fault she shot Mary Jo Buttafuoco in the face. It was totally the ecstasy's fault. [AP]

• Because being attacked by a lightbulb wasn't bad enough, Teri Hatcher then gets attacked by the paparazzi … who mind you have lots of flashing bulbs on their cameras. [TMZ]

Maybe it's because we're not private investigators, investigatory journalists, had to take Newswriting 201 twice, and don't qualify as any Nancy Drew Hardy Boy team, but we're having a little trouble connecting this whole Anthony Pellicano/New York Times/FBI+DOJ investigation wiretap leak. So won't you walk through it with us?

• First, there is the Ron Burkle-Alison Hope Weiner connection. It was just a couple of weeks ago she helped spearhead (along with Campbell Robertson, et al.) the Times' investigation into Jared Paul Stern's Paid $ix scandal. Did Burkle leak her that info? [NYT]

• And Weiner, along with David Halbfinger, did a majority of the reporting on the "secret" e-mails between Jared Paul Stern and Burkle. (Another Burkle leak?) [NYT]

• Meanwhile, Michael Sitrick represents both Ron Burkle and ex-Disney chief Mike Ovitz (who are both involved in the same Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case). [LA Observerd, LA Weekly]

• Adding to the mix, Pellicano was hired by Hollywood hot shot divorce attorney Dennis Wasser (whose clients include Tom Cruise), who is now repping Burkle in the supermarket magnate's dirvorce. [Gawker]

• The NYT last week reported Pellicano tried to shake down Burkle in 2002 for $100k-$250k. If Burkle didn't pay up, Pellicano threatened to carry out Ovitz's investigation into Burkle — which, conflict of interest to the core, Pellicano was behind.

• Meanwhile, Burkle hired Pellicano to investigate Ovitz, at least according to Ovitz. That side plot was reported, of course, by none other than the NYT's David Halbfinger and Allison Hope Weiner. [NYT]

Don't know about you, but we could really use a drink .. not to mention some sunglasses and a trenchcoat. We're not claiming anything just yet, but it sounds a little convenient that the Times' Weiner had access to Burkle's stealth dealings … nearly all of which somehow land Burkle out on top.

John Hanusz of the Daily Journal just leaked some information on the leaked information involved in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case. And, not shockingly, but still big news, our trusty Grey Lady has sparked yet another FBI manhunt.

The Justice Department and the FBI are planning to launch a full federal investigation into the confidential memo leaks to New York Times' reporters David Halbfinger and Alison Hope Weiner .

Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping case are pointing fingers at each other after confidential FBI memos turned up in news reports. Sources close to the case said the Justice Department and the FBI will soon launch investigations into who leaked memos of interviews with supermarket magnate Ronald W. Burkle, Paramount Pictures head Brad Grey and former Disney president Michael S. Ovitz. Those agencies, however, would not comment.

Isn't it refreshing to here Burkle's name in the context of a totally different scandal? The rest of the article, via Fishbowl LA is after the jump. Or, if you have a fancy Daily Journal subscription, click here.

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Much like its foray into the shadowy world of J.T. LeRoy, Vanity Fair's stalking of embroiled private eye Anthony Pellicano doesn't reveal anything much, well, new. While Bryan Burrough and John Connolly's full treatment is available online, it'll also arrive in the June issue (on New York newsstands May 3) where, we suspect, it'll get some coverline play, a decent pictorial spread, and endless pages jumped to the back of the book.

But all hope isn't lost. Just because VF will insist you read thousands of words to embrace yourself in all that is Pellicano doesn't mean you have to. Forthwith, we've broken down the juicy pieces into digestable, media attention span-size morsels.

• Pellicano had a war room straight out of Hollywood. That said, for all his high tech goodies, his wiretapping was unimpressively low-tech: In order to tap phone lines with different area codes than his 310, he had to rent apartments in those area codes and install a separate computer.

• Pellicano's work with Paramount honcho Brad Grey was "extensive" — and let's us drop boldface names like Adam Sandler and Brad Pitt.

• Attorney Bert Fields and Pellicano were so close, the P.I. considered converting to Judaism. And not the celebrity version that lets you tie a red string on your wrist and call yourself religious.

• Pellicano was an asshole to his wife and a bastard to his kids. But you probably already assumed that.

Inside Hollywood's Big Wiretap Scandal [Bryan Burrough and John Connolly, Vanity Fair]