TMZ founder Levin threatens to sue LA cops

Internet mogul Harvey Levin, the founder of the celebrity news website TMZ.com, has threatened legal action against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after it obtained his telephone records. Prosecutors scoured Levin's records as part of an investigation into who leaked information about Mel Gibson's arrest for drink driving in Malibu in 2006.

Levin (above right, with US TV host Ryan Seacrest) - who only learned that his phone records had been obtained by authorities when he read it in the Los Angeles Times - called the search an abuse of power by the LA sheriff's department. He claimed they were embarrassed by TMZ's scoop that the Hollywood actor and director had unleashed an abusive, antisemitic rant during his arrest. Police initially claimed that the Oscar-winning star had been taken into custody without incident.

Speaking in Los Angeles, Levin said that what had happened was "outrageous" and a violation of state and federal laws. "It is a fight about the First Amendment, a fight about democracy," he told a group of journalists at UCLA. "It is a fight about the freedom of the press. It a fight about the abuse in law enforcement."

Levin's phone records showed that he was in contact with the sheriff's deputy, James Mee, who arrested Gibson on the Pacific Coastal Highway on July 28 2006. However there was no evidence of any payment from TMZ to Mee, and prosecutors eventually declined to charge him.

Mel Gibson, who pleaded no contest in August 2006, was given three years' probation, fined $1,400 and ordered to attend Alcoholics Anonymous. Earlier this month, a judge wiped the Braveheart star's drink driving conviction after he successfully completed the terms of his probation.

Established in 2005, TMZ has gained acclaim for journalistic scoops about celebrities despite its controversial use of paparazzi pictures and tabloid agenda. The Time Warner-backed website broke the story of Michael Jackson's death on June 25. ·