outside counsel was brought in- it was harbottle & lewis-by the company at the time. i understand that the legal executives-i think it was mr chapman at the time, along with mr myler, who testified to this effect-took a report. from then, the opinion was clear that as to their review, there was no additional illegality in respect of phone hacking in that file. as to their review, that opinion was clear. the company really rested on a number of things from then on. i certainly know that in 2009, when additional allegations came in the summer, the company really rested on a handful of things. >> we know this. i want to move right up to date to what was discovered in the offices of harbottle & lewis and when it was discovered. >> in 2010, after the civil litigations had put a spotlight on or unearthed, if you will, to us, to the company, additional new evidence and new information that had not been there before and the police investigation started off, one of the things that was gone back and looked at-i suppose it was in the spring, by senior people at news internationa

>> harbottle & lewis are a very respected law firm. i'm not sure that it's fair to accuse them of -- >> i'm not. i'm asking about john chapman who reported to you. >> you said -- you asked if john chapman. >> did he take the decision not to disclose anything any further? >> you asked if john chapman had asked harbottle & lewis -- >> i asked you what he said to you. >> yes, but you also said, did john chapman ask harbottle & lewis to write a misleading letter. and my response to that question was that i think that, firstly, as to harbottle & lewis they are a very well respected legal firm and i'm sure that that won't be the case, and john chapman has been a very respected lawyer with international for many years and i'm sure would absolutely not have done that. however, in light of what we know now, when i and the management standards committee at international saw that file, we felt that it was, from our perspective, put a new light on information that we had had in the past, and we handed it over to the police. >> i didn't ask that qu

rupert murdoch are you have you considered suing harbottle a*plt lewis. you said thharbottle & lewis. you said you relied on the investigation by the police and the investigation undertaken by your solicit tores, harbottle & lewis under whose care this enormous pile of documents was found. there is an old saying, if you want something done you thud do it yourself. you relied on these three people, all of which were severely lacking. are you considering harbottle & lewis. >> any legal action is a mountains for the future. really today is about how we actually make sure that these things don't happen again, so i won't comment or speculate on any future legal matters. >> a pile of evidence, you were asked by my colleague if you had read it yourself, and you said no. under the circumstances when you relied on the people and advisers and they severely let your company down, do you not think, mr. murdoch that perhaps you and you mr. rupert murdoch ought to take the time and read through everything in that file personally. >> for clarity, i did say that i did re

it's called harbottle and lewis.re apparently the recipients of a lot of information about this scandal over the years. now, they have said -- the murdochs have said, we give you permission to talk to the authorities, but we don't waive our attorney-client privilege. it allows them to answer basic questions from the authorities, but it doesn't allow them to answer the questions that everyone wants to know, which is what did you know, how much did you know, when did you know it, et cetera. the firm has come out -- this is astounding -- has made a public statement, which has effectively said, we would love to clear up the record. we would love to clear up misconceptions and false statements out there, but we can't. very rare to see a law firm do that. >> what about other people out there? a person always with the resources of rupert murdoch gets in trouble, he can settle with all sorts of the worst cases and say, i'll give you a bunch of money. just shut up. >> there have been settlements. there was a soccer player the

have you considered suing harbottle & lewis? >> any future legal claims or actions in any matter are a matter for the future. really, today, this is about how we actually make sure that these things don't happen again. i won't comment or speculate on any future legal matters. >> ok. the file of evidence, you were asked by my colleague, mr. farrelly, whether you had read it yourself and you said no. in the circumstances, where you have rely on other people and advisers and they have severely let your company down, you do not think, mr. murdoch and mr. rupert murdoch, that you ought to take the time and read through everything in that followeder personally? >> for claret, mrs. mensch, i did say that i did read some of the con teantstents. they were shown to me. and what i saw was sufficient to know that the right thing to do was to hand them over to the authorities and help them with their investigations. >> i understand that. but you were shown a representative simple, which can be tricky -- sample, which can be tricky. in the ci