James Murdoch was in front of the Commons select committee today:
James Murdoch claims truth about phone-hacking was hidden from himWar of words erupts as two ex-News of the World executives, Colin Myler and Tom Crone, refuse to take the blame
James Robinson
guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 10 November 2011 20.49 GMTJames Murdoch was embroiled in a rancorous war of words with two of his former senior News of the World executives after he told MPs during a marathon questioning session that they had failed to tell him the truth about the scale of phone hacking at the paper and had misled parliament.
In a two-and-a-half hour session that saw a periodically contrite Murdoch fighting for his corporate reputation and his status as Rupert Murdoch's heir apparent, the 38-year-old
repeatedly denied being told three years ago about evidence that hacking went beyond a single journalist at the paper.But his account was quickly contradicted by both those executives, former NoW legal head
Tom Crone and ex-editor
Colin Myler. Crone issued a statement on Thursday night describing Murdoch's evidence as "disingenuous". Myler said he stood by his own account of events.
Murdoch had earlier emerged battered but still standing from the dramatic session before the culture and media committee during which:
• He refused to rule out the possibility that News International would close the Sun if evidence of hacking emerged.
• An MP claimed that all members of the committee had been placed under surveillance by News International.
• Murdoch was compared to a mafia boss who presided over a culture of "omerta".
He told MPs that Crone and Myler had failed in 2008 to tell him about evidence that proved at least three other NoW reporters were involved in hacking.
That evidence included an email sent to the paper's then chief reporter,
Neville Thurlbeck, containing transcripts of hacked messages from PFA chief executive Gordon Taylor's phone, and a warning from News International's QC Michael Silverleaf that there was "a culture of illegal information access" at the paper.
Murdoch, who was running NoW publisher News International when a £725,000 settlement was paid to Taylor in 2008, added: "The information I received about the Taylor case was incomplete. The full extent of knowledge within the business … was not made clear to me. I believe this committee was given evidence by individuals either without full possession of the facts … or it was economical."
Asked if Crone and Myler had misled the committee, Murdoch replied: "It follows that I do. I believe it was inconsistent and not right, and I dispute it vigorously. I believe their testimony was misleading and I dispute it."
In their evidence to the committee in September, Crone and Myler insisted they told Murdoch about the existence of the "for Neville" email and this was why he agreed to settle Taylor's case.
In a withering statement, Crone said: "I can perfectly understand why James Murdoch felt the need to discredit Colin Myler and myself. The simple truth is that he was told by us in 2008 about the damning email and what it meant in terms of wider News of the World involvement.
"It seems he now accepts he was told of the email, of the fact that it contained transcripts of voicemail interceptions and that those interceptions were authorised by the News of the World.
"Perhaps Mr Murdoch could explain who he thought was doing the authorising at the News of the World? At best, his evidence on this matter was disingenuous."
Myler also hit back at his former boss, insisting: "My evidence to the select committee has been entirely accurate and consistent. I stand by my account of the meeting with James Murdoch on 10 June 2008.
"I have been clear throughout about the significance of the 'For Neville' email, as evidenced in my opening statement to the committee when I appeared before them in 2009."
Murdoch distanced himself from the decision last year to settle a similar hacking case brought by Max Clifford worth around £1m at a time when the paper was still denying hacking was widespread. He said the former chief executive Rebekah Brooks had negotiated that payment. "Mrs Brooks did discuss the arrangement [with me] … but not in any great detail," he said.
It emerged last month that Silverleafhad warned that the company was certain to lose the Taylor case and that Crone had told Myler in a note prepared in advance of a 2008 meeting with Murdoch to discuss the case that the company's position was "very perilous". Murdoch insisted he had not been told about the contents of any of those documents in any detail.
He said he authorised Crone and Myler to settle with Taylor following a meeting on 10 June 2008 at which he was told an email existed which showed hacking had been commissioned by the NoW.
Just as he did at his last appearance before MPs, however, Murdoch said he was not told those instructions had been issued by journalists other than the former NoW royal editor Clive Goodman, who had already been jailed for phone hacking.
In a twist that cast further doubt on Murdoch's recollection of events, Tom Watson revealed he had spoken to Thurlbeck who told him Murdoch had been shown the
"for Neville" email. The Labour MP described a conversation with Thurlbeck immediately before the committee hearing, during which Thurlbeck said Crone had confirmed to him that the "for Neville" email had been passed to Murdoch. Watson said Thurlbeck had recalled that Crone had told him: "I'm going to have to show this [email] to James Murdoch."
Watson said Crone had subsequently told Thurlbeck he had done so, but had reassured him he would keep his job with the words: "It's OK. We're going to settle." Murdoch told the committee: "I cannot comment on what Mr Thurlbeck and Mr Crone discussed."
Watson also accused Murdoch of overseeing a mafia-style organisation that obeyed a code of "omerta", an allegation Murdoch described as "offensive". The Tory MP Louise Mensch went on to make the remarkable claim that all the members of the committee had at one time been placed under surveillance by NI.
Murdoch, meanwhile, refused to rule out closing the Sun down if it could be shown that hacking had taken place.
He apologised to MPs for the company's decision to use a private investigator to place MPs under surveillance – which he said he learned about a few weeks ago – and said that was "just not acceptable".
He also showed contrition for News International's response to the Guardian's initial revelations in July 2009 about the extent of hacking at the paper. "The company pushed back too hard," he said. "At various times during this process – and I am sorry for this – we moved into an aggressive defence too quickly."
But he denied he had acted incompetently by failing to get to grips with phone hacking at an earlier stage. "No, I don't think it shows me to be incompetent … I behaved reasonably given the information I had," Murdoch said.
On Thursday night the charman of the committee, John Whittingdale, said he would "want to see any evidence" that MPs on the committee have been followed.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/no ... yler-crone
