The position of culture secretary Jeremy Hunt is in jeopardy today after private emails between his office and News Corp were revealed at the Leveson Inquiry.Sensitive information about the progress of News Corp’s takeover bid for BSkyB and private feedback was passed from the politician to James Murdoch, giving evidence before Lord Justice Leveson today.This included details from a meeting between Hunt and David Cameron in July 2011 on proposed two phone hacking inquiries, which later merged to become the Leveson Inquiry, sent to Murdoch by News Corp's head of public affairs for Europe Frederic Michel.He wrote: “[Bid] was not discussed at the No 10 meeting that Hunt had with the PM – discussing the two enquiries [“police“ one led by a judge; and “media practices” one not with a judge and led by DCMS].”A series of messages between Michel, Murdoch and other News Corp staff were published on the inquiry’s website after a selection were read out in court by inquiry counsel. The emails included information sent from Hunt’s advisors, Adam Smith and John Zeff, often referred to collectively as “JH”, to Michel. A list of text message exchanges between Michel, Smith and others was published alongside the email archive.A previous email from November 2011 informed Murdoch that Hunt had received “strong legal advice” not to meet with News Corp as the takeover process was treated as a judicial decision.Michel added on the email: “My advice would be not to meet him today as it would be counter productive for everyone, but you could have a chat with him on his mobile which is completely fine, and I will liaise with his team privately as well.”Murdoch replied to his email: “You must be fucking joking, fine, I will text him and find a time."He told the inquiry he was displeased with the position, and did not believe having a formal meeting with the minister was inappropriate. Robert Jay QC, inquiry counsel, suggested Hunt may have shown News Corp preferential treatment to garner favourable coverage from the Sun.He added: "It was clear that you were receiving information along the lines that the UK government as a whole would be supportive of News Corp."Murdoch denied the claim, stating it was not the way he did business within the company.An email from January 2011 showed Michel claiming to have obtained information from Hunt’s office. He told Murdoch: “Managed to so get some infos on the plans for tomorrow [although absolutely illegal >|].”When questioned, Murdoch said the message was a joke. Hunt’s advisors apparently told Michel that Hunt shared the same objectives as News Corp but wanted Murdoch to understand he needed to “build some political cover on the process”.In early emails from 2010, Michel describes Hunt as “amazed” by opposition to the bid from Ofcom, and says the minister he was very happy for me to his point of contact with Murdoch, to avoid giving opposition an opportunity to “attack the fairness of the process”.Jay suggested the process had continued in Scotland, when the Sun’s coverage of Alex Salmond became supportive. Michel told Murdoch he had met with Salmond’s advisors, who said the minister would call Hunt on News Corp’s behalf. Murdoch denied the paper’s reporting had changed to gain political support.Murdoch defended the contact, telling the inquiry: “This is a large scale transaction that was in the hands, with the respect to the decision-making process to the Department of Culture, Media, and Sport... it was entirely reasonable to try to communicate with the relevant police-makers about the merits of what you were proposing.”On Hunt, he added: “I think throughout the process what we saw is that he consulted widely, he took advice from all sides, he followed the advice, at every decision point, of the OFT and Ofcom, and I can’t say that he didn’t.”