Gawker has learned that Hinton will not be hopping across the pond to help explain revelations that reporters for the News of the World and the Sun, two Murdoch papers under his purview when he ran News International Group, engaged in rampant wiretapping and that News International paid off victims to the tune of $1.6 million in exchange for their silence.

The wiretapping scandals first broke in 2007, when Hinton was running News International. After News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman was convicted of tapping the phones of various royals and their entourages, Hinton told the House of Commons' culture committee that he had thoroughly investigated the charges and assured Parliament that Goodman was acting alone. Last week, the Guardian reported that nearly 30 News of the World and Sun reporters were engaged in wiretapping and other invasions of privacy.

According to the *ahem* Wall Street Journal, the committee has invited Hinton back to explain the discrepancy:

A parliamentary committee that monitors media policy — the lower house committee on culture, media and sport — plans to hold hearings into the matter as early as Tuesday. The committee has invited Les Hinton, the current chief executive of Dow Jones and the former head of News Corp.'s U.K. newspaper operations, to give evidence. A spokesman for Mr. Hinton declined to comment.

Hinton won't be taking them up on the offer, a source tells Gawker. Tomorrow, the committee will begin hearings on the affair with testimony from an editor and reporter for the Guardian, which broke the story.

Les Hinton was installed as the CEO of Dow Jones shortly after Murdoch bought his new toy and thus ultimately responsible for the Journal, Barron's, and all of the company's news operations. But prior to that he was the executive chairman at News International Group, which ran the Murdoch papers that are now accused of illegally wiretapping government officials and celebrities, and then paying off said officials and celebrities to keep quiet about it after they got caught.

Hinton is no stranger to controversy. He testified before the House of Commons in March 2007, assuring members of Parliament that News International had conducted a thorough inquiry into former News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman's wiretapping exploits and determined that "he was the only person" at the companys's papers who had been tapping phones. Yesterday the Guardian reported that "27 different journalists from the News of the World and four from the Sun"—both News International papers—made more than 1,000 requests to private investigators for wiretaps, phone records, and other illegal invasions into private data. Either Hinton lied to Parliament, or he had absolutely no clue what was going on at his own papers.

What's more, at some point after Goodman was jailed in January 2007, News International began paying out more than $1.6 million in settlements to Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, for alleged wiretapping of his phone by News of the World reporters. Taylor's involvement was undisclosed until the Guardian reported it yesterday, and the payments were contingent on keeping the story quiet—hush money. It's not clear from the Guardian's reporting when, precisely, the payments began, but they started after January 2007 and Hinton was in charge of News International until December of that year. In other words, Hinton, the man who now oversees the Wall Street Journal, appears to be up to his neck in a criminal wiretapping conspiracy back in England. He's been called to testify before Parliament about it again next week, the Guardian reports. We're sure his American employees will be very curious as to what he has to say.

Calls to Hinton were not returned. A Dow Jones spokesman referred to us to a News International spokeswoman, who did not respond to an e-mail inquiry.