Exclusive: Hunt on the brink as he is accused of misleading Parliament
From evidence and testimony by Rupert and James Murdoch last week, it is abundantly clear that Hunt concealed his agent relationship on behalf of News Corporation. The culture secretary withheld evidence from Parliament as illustrated by the emails presented before the Leveson Inquiry. Those emails were not in his submission to Parliament. Nevertheless, they exist.
PM Cameron is also in hot water for not appointing an independent investigation of Hunt. After the testimony and evidence of last week's hearings, there is zero doubt that Hunt is a bad actor. The worse he looks, the more pressure will mount on Cameron to justify his failure to investigate Hunt's failures.
Fly too close to the media Sun King and your wings melt, then you crash and burn.
Cameron's kiss of death
Jeremy Hunt's position is simply indefensible. He withheld evidence in his possession, evidence critical to Parliament's responsibilities. The evidence (emails) showed up at the inquiry last week.
When the evidence of Hunt's agent role for Murdoch came out last week, Hunt appealed to Lord Justice Leveson for an earlier appearance at the inquiry to clear his name sooner. The inquiry issued a statement saying that "in the interests of fairness to all" there would be no change in the schedule. Why? Because the inquiry is not about ministerial conduct, Hunt's or that of any other Cameron minister.
As clear as this statement from the Leveson Inquiry was, Cameron continues to insist that the inquiry is the best forum to evaluate Hunt's actions. This signals the beginning of the end for Cameron. He's proposing a solution for the Hunt investigation that is outside the rules of Parliament in a forum that has rejected him. Upon closer examination, existing evidence will lead to even stronger condemnation of Hunt's behavior. Any new materials produced by the inquiry will bury him.
Where will that leave Cameron?
Finished!
Doing business with Rupert Murdoch is the kiss of death.
END
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Addendum: Smoking emoticon ?
This interesting exchange occurred during testimony by James Murdoch under questioning by Queens Council (QC) Robert Jay last week (Afternoon hearing, James Murdoch, April 24). QC Jay noted that the email (below) from News Corporation lobbyist Frederic Michel to James indicated that "absolutely illegal" behavior was employed to get government plans regarding the Sky acquisition. James brushed this off with a smile claiming that the greater than symbol and explanation point indicated that "it's a joke."
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