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| Rupert Murdoch |
An attorney for Prince Harry accused Rupert Murdoch this week of knowing about News Group Newspapers’ alleged use of illegal tactics such as phone hacking to acquire information about the Duke of Sussex and others.
Lawyer David Sherborne went after Murdoch on Wednesday during a three-day hearing in London’s High Court to add more allegations to the duke’s lawsuit against the publisher. Harry, actor Hugh Grant and other claimants now allege that Murdoch and other media executives were complicit in a scheme to conceal and destroy evidence of News Group Newspapers’ misconduct.
“It is inferred that they would not have been carrying out this extensive concealment and destruction strategy without the knowledge and approval of Rupert Murdoch,” Sherborne said in a court filing, according to the Associated Press.
“These allegations have nothing to do with seeking compensation for victims of phone hacking or unlawful information gathering and should be viewed with considerable caution not only in relation to their veracity but also in the light of those who are behind them,” the spokesperson said. “They are irrelevant to the fair and just determination of claims.”
The News Group lawsuit alleges that staffers at tabloids the News of the World and the Sun violated Harry, Grant and others’ privacy by intercepting voicemails, tapping phones, bugging cars and lying to spy on them between 1994 and 2016. The claimants have also accused newspaper executives of putting out false statements, erasing millions of emails and paying hush money to hide the illegal activity.
Murdoch — the former chairman of Fox Corp. and News Corp. who stepped down from his position in September — and other execs stand accused of disseminating a false narrative that “one rogue reporter” at News of the World was to blame for the espionage.
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