Turgon last night noted the issue of the two letters. Clive Goodman might be dismissed as a sacked journo with an axe to grind but the law firm Harbottle and Lewis’ involvement may prove rather more tricky to deal with. As George Eaton notes the company:
…criticises the pair’s evidence to the select committee as “hard to credit” and “self-serving”. The law firm points out that its investigation was limited to whether Goodman hacked phones with the knowledge of other journalists, not whether “general” criminality took place at the tabloid. Thus, it was dishonest of the Murdochs to present a letter from the firm as evidence that News International had received a clean bill of health.
Hmmmm… In effect, Murdoch Junior was rather carelessly accusing a law firm, his company employed, of not doing its job properly… This one could get very nasty, independently of any further journalistic enterprise in this story…
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty