As expected, the opposition Liberal Democratic Party has launched a salvo of criticism in the Lower House's Budget Committee against Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama over a political funds scandal. Unfortunately for Mr. Hatoyama, his explanations have not been very convincing.

Mr. Hatoyama admitted that some of his own money — under the control of Rokko Shokai, a company that manages assets of the Hatoyama family — had been diverted to his political funds management body. He said he had signed documents allowing the former accountant of the body to divert the money, because the accountant said the body lacked funds for political activities.

A politician is not allowed to make political donations of more than ¥10 million a year. About ¥130 million worth of small donations from unnamed sources were made to Mr. Hatoyama's organization over four years, and some of that money is suspected to have been his own. He said he was aware of the ¥10 million limit.

The prime minister pre-empted accusations of violating the limit by saying that his understanding had been that the accountant was borrowing an amount beyond ¥10 million but would return it later. Mr. Hatoyama told reporters later that although each document he signed specified the amount being diverted, he did not bother to calculate the total.

It is also known that the accountant made false statements concerning donations worth some ¥21.8 million, in annual reports for Mr. Hatoyama's organization over a four-year period from 2005. People listed as donors included deceased individuals and people who have denied ever making donations.

Mr. Hatoyama said if he had known that the accountant was making false reports, he would have stopped it. He added that it would be dishonest of a politician to say that he or she had nothing to do with something his or her secretary had done. But he said he could not tell which entries were false or not in this case, because he has not contacted the accountant.

He expressed hope that ongoing investigations by prosecutors will clarify the facts. All in all, though, his statements left many points fuzzy. He should address the details of the picture.