Tuesday, July 26, 2011
BOMBSHELL! A British blogger claims limey CNN darling Piers Morgan is complicit in the phone hacking scandal rocking the Murdoch empire while Morgan was editor at the Daily Mirror and says he has a recording to prove it.
Piers Morgan, a Rupert Murdoch protege and staunch defender of his former boss, was inexplicably hired by CNN to replace the retiring Larry King. Morgan’s CNN show has constantly underperformed in the 9PM timeslot.
As reported in Forbes, Paul Staines, who blogs under the name Guido Fawkes:
Piers Morgan was editor of a the British tabloid, the Daily Mirror, at a time when many British tabloid reporters were committing illegal hacking of voicemails. Morgan has vociferously denied personal involvement in or knowledge of anything like that under his watch but, a prominent political blogger claims to have a recording that proves otherwise.
If it delivers as advertised, it will be the first major expansion of the hacking scandal outside the confines of News Corp. So far, the only proven instances of voicemail hacking took place at the News of the World tabloid, although there have been numerous unsubstantiated claims of others. Despite Morgan’s denial, the Mirror’s parent company said it would undertake an internal investigation after a former employee, James Hipwell, was quoted saying hacking was commonplace at the paper during his tenure there, which overlapped Morgan’s.
A CNN spokeswoman declined to comment.
I wrote to CNN complaining about their decision to employ Piers Morgan in light of his alleged involvement in the phone hacking scandal. As expected, they punted the issue and sent this reply:
CNN VCM
Wed, Jul 20, 2011 at 10:03 AMHello Christopher,
Thank you for contacting CNN. Piers Morgan talked to Wolf Blitzer 1-on-1 about this on Tuesday, July 19. Here’s what he had to say: http://bit.ly/noQNDw
Sincerely yours, LeAnn A.
Viewer Communications Management
The link goes to a CNN interview between Wolf Blitzer and Piers Morgan where Morgan denies any knowledge or involvement with phone hacking on his watch at either the News of the World or the Daily Mirror.
If Paul Staines delivers a recording placing Piers Morgan at the heart of the phone hacking scandal, I wonder if how long until CNN: The Most Trusted Name in News, sends him packing?
Editor Addition: A reader from London just sent this link to me. Thanks, Nigel.
CNN’s Piers Morgan ‘told interviewer stories were published based on phone tapping’
