December 21, 2024

News International Knew of Broader Hacking in 2008, Lawmakers Told

Julian Pike, a partner at the law firm Farrer and Co., said he knew the company’s claim that the practice was limited to one “rogue reporter,” was untrue but admitted that he “had not done very much,” with the information, as he was not obliged to reveal it. He insisted that he was “not party to any cover-up.”

The company eventually admitted to wider wrongdoing early this year, and shuttered the newspaper this summer amid a cascade of revelations. But the company was told in 2008 that three other journalists at the tabloid had been involved, Mr. Pike told a committee of lawmakers gathering evidence on a scandal that continues to pervade a wide swath of British life. 

The committee will take evidence from Mr. Murdoch’s former chief lieutenant, Les Hinton, next Monday, and has said it will likely call Mr. Murdoch’s son James to give further evidence later this year. Both men face allegations, which they vehemently deny, that they were complicit in covering up phone hacking.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=1fe8ff72023bcd01397d2d357f5daa16