Morgan comes out fighting as enemies try to implicate him
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The former British newspaper editor Piers Morgan yesterday took steps to protect his high-profile job at CNN, and his six-figure salary, as he issued a statement to deny a series of accusations that he was implicated in the phone-hacking scandal.
Morgan, a former editor of the News of the World, refuted claims his previous comments on the matter were evidence of culpability. James Hipwell, who worked on the Daily Mirror when Morgan was editor, has said hacking was "endemic" and that it was "inconceivable" the editor did not know about it.
The accusations and insinuations have gathered pace. The blog Huffpost UK published a transcript of Morgan's appearance on the BBC Radio 4 show Desert Island Discs in 2009, when he discussed phone hacking and other practices. He told Kirsty Young: "A lot of it was done by third parties. That's not to defend it, because obviously you were running the results of their work. I'm quite happy to have to sit here defending all these things I used to get up to. I simply say the net of people doing it was very wide and certainly encompassed the high and low end of the newspaper market."
The political blogger Guido Fawkes quoted a 2006 article Morgan wrote in the Daily Mail, in which he referred to a phone message left by Sir Paul McCartney for Heather Mills. "I was played a tape of a message Paul had left for Heather on her mobile phone. It was heart-breaking. The couple had clearly had a tiff, Heather had fled to India and Paul was pleading with her to come back."
The Guardian republished a piece from GQ magazine in 2007, when Morgan told Naomi Campbell that hacking was "a very widespread practice". He said: "It was pretty well known that if you didn't change your pin code when you were a celebrity who bought a new phone, then reporters could ring your mobile, tap in a standard factory setting number and hear your messages."
Morgan yesterday rubbished the claims: "I have never hacked a phone, told anyone to hack a phone, nor to my knowledge published any story obtained from the hacking of a phone." He called his detractors liars, druggie ex-bankrupts and con men on Twitter.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments