With his credibility now on the line, Murdoch will be questioned by MPs on November 10 about how his account of the phone-hacking scandal differs from those given by his key lieutenants and lawyers - specifically about when, and how much, he knew about the internal hacking culture at the News of the World.
Internal documents, obtained by the House of Commons Media Select Committee investigating phone hacking at the NOTW, appear to back up earlier claims made by News International's former legal manager, Tom Crone, and the former NOTW editor Colin Myler that a meeting the two had with Murdoch on June 10, 2008 was merely an update.
After his Commons testimony in July this year, Murdoch wrote to the culture committee stating clearly that, prior to the June 10, 2008 meeting, he did "not recall being given any briefing nor do I recall Mr Crone or Mr Myler referring to, or showing me, documents during the meeting". However, revealed for the first time is a trail of internal emails and legal advice that led up to the June 10 meeting.
Julian Pike, from the solicitors Farrer & Co, which then had NI as its client, was copied into a memo written by Crone to Myler on May 24. Marked "strictly private and confidential", it was supposed to help Myler explain the full knowledge of phone hacking inside the NOTW to Murdoch and offer reasons why he needed to approve an expensive damages claim from the football union boss, Gordon Taylor. A settlement of £725,000 ($1.46 million) was eventually reached.
Crone's language in the memo is a startlingly frank admission of the illegal activities inside the Murdoch tabloid - and is at odds with NI's repeated assurances over the last three years that it had uncovered no evidence of hacking beyond the case of the jailed royal reporter, Clive Goodman.
Referring to a document NI had recently seen in 2008 from the Information Commissioner detailing illegal news-gathering techniques across Fleet Street, Crone confirms that "infringements" and "turning round" of mobile phone numbers had taken place. He identifies those responsible as "names that are still with us and some of them have moved to prominent positions on NOTW and the Sun".
He says a particular email from inside the NOTW is "fatal to our case" and NI's position is "very perilous".
Pike's notes from a telephone call with Myler made the day after his meeting with Murdoch were also published. It specifically states he "spoke to Mr Murdoch". The words "didn't believe culture in the newsroom" suggests the News Corp boss rejected what he was told.
Internal investigations into three NOTW journalists are also listed. NI has previously said independent examination of the company's journalistic practices revealed nothing illegal. There is also mention of "James" [Murdoch] potentially advising that the "cancer" should be "cut out".
Also published was a substantial piece of opinion written by NI's legal leading counsel, Michael Silverleaf, QC. Given to Crone a week before his meeting on June 10 with James Murdoch, Silverleaf makes no attempt at masking the legal problem hacking represented in 2008, how expensive any deal with Taylor was likely to be and how there was "overwhelming evidence" that hacking went beyond the official account of a single rogue reporter.
Silverleaf describes a "culture of illegal information access used at NGN [News Group Newspapers] in order to produce stories for publication".
A News Corp spokeswoman said yesterday: "James Murdoch has been clear and consistent in his testimony. He is appearing in front of the Select Committee on November 10 and will be happy to answer any further questions then."
- Independent
