James Murdoch Admits Paying Hush Money In Phone Hacking Scandal
Reported by Ellen - August 17, 2011 -
After telling Parliament that News Corp. did not pay "hush money" to a phone hacking victim, James Murdoch has now admitted that a confidentiality agreement was part of a £700,000 settlement paid to Gordon Taylor, chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association. (H/T John M.)
The British paper The Telegraph writes:
In July, when Mr Murdoch appeared alongside his father Rupert before MPs he strongly denied that News International had increased the size of the payment to Mr Taylor to maintain silence....But in a subsequent letter to MPs, Mr Murdoch admitted that “since I gave this response, I have been informed that confidentiality was a factor in determining the amount of the settlement payment."
He insisted that “I did not know at the time or when I gave my evidence that any part of the amount of the Taylor settlement specifically related to the confidentiality aspect of the settlement."
