Among the prominent conservative names lending their view: former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, Hewlitt-Packard chief executive and former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Florida), and actor Clint Eastwood.
The media commentator Steve Hewlitt told the programme that the Sunday Times' journalist Isobel Oakeshott's relationship with Vicky Price "wouldn't be the first time that a journalist has connived with someone who has a story to tell".