While we were all mesmerized by ninja Wendi, the plodding questions by Tom Watson, MP, News Corp's parliamentary bete noir, hit paydirt:
In his evidence to the committee on Tuesday, Mr Murdoch said he was unaware of an email suggesting hacking at the paper was more widespread when he agreed a reported £700,000 out-of-court settlement with Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, in 2008. But in a statement last night, Mr Myler and Mr Crone said Mr Murdoch was "mistaken" and they had informed him of the email, which had been obtained by Mr Taylor's lawyers.
Mr Murdoch, News Corporation's deputy chief operating officer, responded by saying that he stood by his original evidence.
The sheer size of the payment, as the NYT notes, is far, far beyond the usual damages for phone-hacking. It was kept within a very tight circle. Now that circle has broken open, who knows what else will emerge? It seems to any casual observer like an obvious piece of hush-money, which puts James Murdoch in a criminal conspiracy. Money Watson quote:
“This is the most significant moment of two years of investigation into phone hacking.”
Another MP whose phone was hacked, the gay ex-priest Chris Bryant, wants News Corp to suspend both Murdochs. Good luck with that. But a future News Corp may well look very different.