In a statement issued last week, the Democratic Party of Japan acknowledged that a fellow lawmaker used a fake e-mail to cook up a scandal implicating a senior official of the governing Liberal Democratic Party with the disgraced former president of Internet startup Livedoor Co.
Citing a copy of the in-house e-mail purportedly sent by Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie to a subordinate, lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata had charged Feb. 16 before the Lower House Budget Committee that Horie ordered the transfer of 30 million yen to the bank account of a son of LDP secretary general Tsutomu Takebe.
On Feb. 28, DPJ chief Seiji Maehara apologized for letting Nagata make the false allegations, as the "bombshell" disclosure ended up gravely hurting Nagata and his own party. Among DPJ lawmakers, criticism is growing against Maehara and other party executives.