Tuesday Three-Peat

The Chicago Tribune's Rudoloph Bush, along with David Griesing, have reported that James R. Thompson has taken the stand. He testified, under direct examination, that he was unaware of any geographical division in running Hollinger International, and that Conrad Black and David Radler "seemed to have complete knowledge of Hollinger's inner workings: 'They ran the business as a duo as far as I could tell,... they seemed to be aware of what the other person was doing in the company'" Mr. Thompson also testified that he was "never made aware" of the $2 million non-compete fee that came with the American Trucker transaction, and that Hollinger Int'l should have gotten all of the non-compete fee for the sale of 45 newspaper properties to Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc., instead of part of it going to a "'related party.'"

The Associated Press has a report out, written by Mike Robinson and webbed by the Belleville News-Democrat. It relates that Mr. Thompson testified that all of the non-compete payments, including the ones attached to the sale to CanWest, should have gone to Hollinger Int'l. He also testified that he and the other directors found out about the $2 million non-compete payment going to Hollinger Inc. "'[m]uch later,...' Pressed by Sussman to be more specific, Thompson said it was only after the board of directors rebelled against Black's management and launched an outside investigation of the company." Regarding the $12 million non-compete payment, he testified that "the audit committee should have been told," and that "he was never told about" that payment also, nor about the one attached to the sale to Horizon. The report also says the Mr. Thompson "seemed relaxed and affable" as he took the stand. (It's also been webbed by ABC7 Chicago; WQAD.com has a summary of it.)

The Scotsman has webbed Reuters' report, written by Andrew Stern. It starts off by noting that Mr. Thompson's testimony, that Conrad Black and David Radler were a close team, is aimed at striking the heart of the defense's theory - the only party responsible for any illegal activities in Hollinger Int'l was Mr. Radler. Mr. Thompson also testified that he never saw any change in Mr. Black's and Mr. Radler's business relationship during the entire time he was a member of Hollinger Int'l's board.

The United Press also has a brief report on Mr. Thompson's testimony today, as webbed by EarthTimes.org. It ends with this excerpt from his testimony: "'They didn't advise us,' Thompson said in court. 'They ran the business as a duo, as far as I can see.'"

A report by Mary Vallis, webbed by Canada.com, has details on the cross-examination with a recap of the direct laced in. After noting that Mr. Thompson testified to largely the same information that the other two members of the audit committee did, the report discloses some admissions he made while being cross-examined by Eddie Greenspan. He stipulated that he had only "'skimmed'" the documents he had signed, a point anticipated in the direct examination of him by Eric Sussman: "'If anything was amiss, in any of them, I would have assumed they would point it out,' Thompson said." It also notes that, after Mr. Thompson has said that the audit committee was a "'pretty democratic'" one when explaining that he wasn't exactly a take-charge guy while there, Csr Greespan responded, "Even in a democracy, someone has to be governor.'"

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Mark Steyn, in his latest blog post, characterized former Gov. Thompson as a "hugely impressive witness," and one who isn't a walking archetype of wealth and glamour. Nevertheless, Mr. Steyn is convinced that the Wells notice that all three audit committee members were served with in late 2005 will constructively impugn Mr. Thompson's testimony.