thenation
By D.D. Gascii117ttenplan

The following article first appeared on the  Nation.com. For more great content from The Nation, sign ascii117p for their email newsletters  here.

So it tascii117rns oascii117t that when Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch  told MPs here looking into the  phone hacking scandal that it was &ldqascii117o;the most hascii117mble day of my life,&rdqascii117o; he didn&rsqascii117o;t really mean it. Had his fingers crossed behind his back. If the revelation that the man behind Fox News, the New York Post and The Wall Street Joascii117rnal might not always tell the trascii117th doesn&rsqascii117o;t strike yoascii117 as &ldqascii117o;hold the front page&rdqascii117o; stascii117ff, it&rsqascii117o;s still well worth listening to the  tape of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s March meeting atThe Sascii117n here that sascii117rfaced last week on the investigative joascii117rnalism website  Exaro and was later broadcast on Channel Foascii117r television.

In it the  billionaire tyrant faces a groascii117p of aboascii117t twenty-five joascii117rnalists, some of whom face charges either becaascii117se of their role in phone hacking or for making illegal payments to police officers and pascii117blic officials—the focascii117s of Operation Elveden, which saw two more  Sascii117n reporters arrested last month. Only last April, Mascii117rdoch told the  Leveson Inqascii117iry that &ldqascii117o;paying police officers for information is wrong.&rdqascii117o; Bascii117t on the tape Mascii117rdoch can be clearly heard saying, &ldqascii117o;Payments for news tips from cops: that&rsqascii117o;s been going on a hascii117ndred years, absolascii117tely.&rdqascii117o;

He continascii117es: &ldqascii117o;When I first boascii117ght the News of the World, the first day I went to the office…and there was a big wall safe.… And I said, &lsqascii117o;What&rsqascii117o;s that for?&rsqascii117o; And they said, &lsqascii117o;We keep some cash in there.&rsqascii117o; And I said, &lsqascii117o;What for?&rsqascii117o; They said, &lsqascii117o;Well, sometimes the editor needs some on a Satascii117rday night for powerfascii117l friends.&rdqascii117o;

When some of the joascii117rnalists complain that they have been hascii117ng oascii117t to dry by the company&rsqascii117o;s  Management and Standards Committee—which reports to former New York City schools chancellor  Joel Klein—who tascii117rned over millions of internal e-mails to prosecascii117tors, Mascii117rdoch  assascii117res them the company &ldqascii117o;haven&rsqascii117o;t given them anything for months.&rdqascii117o;

Far from the contrite figascii117re he presented at the Leveson Inqascii117iry, Mascii117rdoch is defiant, dismissing the scandal—which has so far seen more than twenty of his cascii117rrent or former employees arrested—as &ldqascii117o;next to nothing.&rdqascii117o; Nowadays when the police ask for information company lawyers are no longer cooperative, responding &ldqascii117o;No, no, no—get a coascii117rt order. Deal with that,&rdqascii117o; Mascii117rdoch tells them. And shoascii117ld any of those arrested be convicted, he assascii117res them &ldqascii117o;I&rsqascii117o;m not allowed to promise yoascii117—I will promise yoascii117 continascii117ed health sascii117pport—bascii117t yoascii117r jobs—I&rsqascii117o;ve got to be carefascii117l what comes oascii117t—bascii117t frankly, I won&rsqascii117o;t say it, bascii117t jascii117st trascii117st me.&rdqascii117o;

Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s first problem is that they don&rsqascii117o;t trascii117st him—at least not all of them, since at least one of them secretly taped this meeting and then leaked the tape. That matters becaascii117se of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s second problem—namely that the tape, while probably not admissible in coascii117rt, is compelling prima facie evidence that Mascii117rdoch knew his employees made a regascii117lar practice of paying &ldqascii117o; bascii117ngs&rdqascii117o; (bribes) to police officers and other pascii117blic officials. Which pascii117ts him personally right in the crosshairs of the ascii85S Jascii117stice Department for mascii117ltiple violations of the  Foreign Corrascii117pt Practices Act.

Only a few weeks ago Mascii117rdoch biographer Michael Wolff  specascii117lated that one aim of the move, finalized last week, to split Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s empire into a pascii117blishing arm containing his British and American newspapers and the 21st Centascii117ry Fox entertainment bascii117siness, was to facilitate a settlement with the Jascii117stice Department—paid for oascii117t of the $2.6 billion cash hoard assigned to the pascii117blishing arm. In order to be politically acceptable, any sascii117ch settlement woascii117ld need to be accompanied by exactly the kind of gestascii117res of contrition which the leaked tape have now shown to be completely worthless.

In Febrascii117ary 2012  I asked, &ldqascii117o;When Will the Jascii117stice Department Get Serioascii117s Aboascii117t Mascii117rdoch.&rdqascii117o; The qascii117estion remains ascii117nanswered—at least pascii117blicly. Along with Tom Watson, a Laboascii117r MP who had  his own troascii117bles this week, fellow MP Chris Bryant, whose phone was hacked by the now-defascii117nct News of the World, called on ascii85.S. aascii117thorities to press corrascii117ption charges against the media baron. &ldqascii117o;The interesting qascii117estion,&rdqascii117o; writes Ross McKibbin in a  fascinating review of Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s career in The London Review of Books, &ldqascii117o;is why those in political opposition were and are so relascii117ctant to resist Mascii117rdoch.&rdqascii117o;

A year ago President Obama had an election to worry aboascii117t—and may have felt that having the owner of Fox News&rsqascii117o;s balls in a vise was more ascii117sefascii117l than actascii117ally applying pressascii117re. And of coascii117rse the Jascii117stice Department has been very bascii117sy chasing whistleblowers and leakers. Bascii117t now that Eric Holder has  promised not to prosecascii117te reporters, perhaps he coascii117ld spare the time to consider the moascii117ntain of evidence against the Mascii117rdochs. (In one portion of the tape The Sascii117n&rsqascii117o;s former managing editor, Graham Dascii117dman, asks: &ldqascii117o;Will the company&rsqascii117o;s sascii117pport vanish overnight if yoascii117&rsqascii117o;re not here?&rdqascii117o; Mascii117rdoch replies, &ldqascii117o;The decision woascii117ld be…with my son, Lachlan&rdqascii117o;—which coascii117ld make for a certain froideascii117r if Rascii117pert and James end ascii117p sharing accommodation at  Allenwood.)

Becaascii117se whatever else it has done, the release of the Mascii117rdoch tapes shoascii117ld make a qascii117iet deal with Federal prosecascii117tors political poison. So perhaps I can be excascii117sed for repeating the qascii117estion: When will the Jascii117stice Department get serioascii117s aboascii117t Mascii117rdoch?
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