James Murdoch Sticks to His Story

Second verse, same as the first: James Murdoch defended his record at the head of his father's scandal-tarred British newspaper unit before Lord Justice Brian Leveson's inquiry into media ethics today. Murdoch repeated allegations that the now-defunct News of the World's then-editor Colin Myler and the company's former in-house lawyer Tom Crone misled him about the scale of illegal behavior at the newspaper. Leveson asked Murdoch: "Was your relationship with them such that they may think: 'Well, we needn't bother him with that?'" Replied Murdoch, "That must be it."

Murdoch's relationship with politicians also came under scrutiny today: The 39-year-old revealed that he'd told David Cameron that the Sun would endorse the Tories' election bid at a meeting in London on Sept. 10, 2009. The paper's endorsement of Cameron's Conservatives was a blow to Britain's Labour Party, and critics claim that it helped secure Tory approval for the potentially lucrative BSkyB bid after they won the election in 2010. Murdoch denied the charge, but acknowledged talking to Cameron about it at a Christmas dinner in 2010—but said it was "a tiny side conversation ahead of a dinner. It wasn't really a discussion, if you will." Rupert Murdoch will appear before the inquiry tomorrow. (More James Murdoch stories.)