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Murdoch distances himself from phone hacking
Source: Agencies |
November 11, 2011, Friday
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JAMES Murdoch insisted before a UK parliamentary committee yesterday that he told the truth when he said he was kept in the dark about the culture of criminality at the now-defunct News of the World.
In comments to often skeptical and sometimes hostile lawmakers, News International chief Murdoch stuck to his guns, accusing his former subordinates of misleading investigators over the extent of the phone hacking that has shaken his father Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
"Any suspicion of wider-spread wrongdoing - none of that was mentioned to me," Murdoch said, taking the same stance he took during testimony in July despite increasing evidence linking him to the scandal.
His repeated denials that he had seen critical evidence of widespread criminality at his company prompted derisive comments from the lawmakers investigating the scandal.
"You must be the first mafia boss in history who did not think he was running a criminal enterprise," said Labor lawmaker Tom Watson, a strident Murdoch critic.
Murdoch, stony-faced, called the comment inappropriate. He laid the blame squarely at the door of the News of the World's former editor, Colin Myler, and News International's former legal adviser, Tom Crone, both of whom insist they briefed him as long ago as early 2008 about damning evidence that phone hacking went much further than previously acknowledged.
"I believe their testimony was misleading, and I dispute it," Murdoch said.
The finger-pointing follows months of revelations undermining Murdoch's credibility.
Crone's and Myler's accounts of events called Murdoch's credibility into question. Documents published in the months since his earlier appearance before lawmakers - in which he insisted he was not informed of the scale of the scandal - have been particularly damning.
One, written by a senior lawyer, warned News International there was "overwhelming evidence" some of its most senior journalists had been involved in illegal practices. But Murdoch said: "No documents were shown to me."
He occasionally struck an apologetic tone about the company's failure to get to grips with the scandal. He said executives at the company had given assurances, and the company "relied on those assurances for too long."
"I am sorry for that," he said.
He also apologized for the use of a private investigator to tail the lawyers of phone-hacking victims, calling the practice "appalling."
In comments to often skeptical and sometimes hostile lawmakers, News International chief Murdoch stuck to his guns, accusing his former subordinates of misleading investigators over the extent of the phone hacking that has shaken his father Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
"Any suspicion of wider-spread wrongdoing - none of that was mentioned to me," Murdoch said, taking the same stance he took during testimony in July despite increasing evidence linking him to the scandal.
His repeated denials that he had seen critical evidence of widespread criminality at his company prompted derisive comments from the lawmakers investigating the scandal.
"You must be the first mafia boss in history who did not think he was running a criminal enterprise," said Labor lawmaker Tom Watson, a strident Murdoch critic.
Murdoch, stony-faced, called the comment inappropriate. He laid the blame squarely at the door of the News of the World's former editor, Colin Myler, and News International's former legal adviser, Tom Crone, both of whom insist they briefed him as long ago as early 2008 about damning evidence that phone hacking went much further than previously acknowledged.
"I believe their testimony was misleading, and I dispute it," Murdoch said.
The finger-pointing follows months of revelations undermining Murdoch's credibility.
Crone's and Myler's accounts of events called Murdoch's credibility into question. Documents published in the months since his earlier appearance before lawmakers - in which he insisted he was not informed of the scale of the scandal - have been particularly damning.
One, written by a senior lawyer, warned News International there was "overwhelming evidence" some of its most senior journalists had been involved in illegal practices. But Murdoch said: "No documents were shown to me."
He occasionally struck an apologetic tone about the company's failure to get to grips with the scandal. He said executives at the company had given assurances, and the company "relied on those assurances for too long."
"I am sorry for that," he said.
He also apologized for the use of a private investigator to tail the lawyers of phone-hacking victims, calling the practice "appalling."
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