James Murdoch doesn't rule out closure of The Sun while being compared to mafia
James Murdoch, chief executive of News International has been described as a ‘mafia boss’ while being questioned by MPs for a second time about phone hacking practices taking place within the company and has not ruled out the closure of The Sun should phone hacking practices be proven to have occurred within it.
MP Tom Watson, who has led calls to investigate and been at the forefront of questions being put to News International executives around phone hacking, was questioning Murdoch, asked him whether he was familiar with the mafia and was aware of ‘Omerta’ – a code of honour.
Murdoch responded that he was and also said that he was offended by the line of questioning.
During questioning, Murdoch has also said the he stands by his previous testimony to the panel, and that he was unaware of phone hacking within the organisation.
He has also accused Colin Myler, former editor of the News of the World and Tom Crone, who headed up the company’s legal team, of misleading the committee in their testimonies.
The questioning continues at the time of writing.
Updated: James Murdoch has refused to rule out closing the Sun if there is evidence that phone hacking took place at the newspaper, after a reference to 'the Sun' was found in the file of private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.
Labour MP Steve Rotheram asked "If it's revealed that the Sun does appear in the Mulcaire file, will you close the paper like you did the News of the World?" to which Murdoch replied "I think it's important not to prejudge the outcome of any of the investigations.
"I don't think we can rule [out] any corporate reaction to behaviour or wrongdoing."