Bad news for James Murdoch and News Corp. Email released by a UK panel investigating the News. Corp’s News of the World hacking scandal shows that Murdoch was in the loop and knew of the hacking scandal earlier than he had admitted.

Murdoch admits to having opened the email, but had not read the full contents.

An e-mail chain released Tuesday by a parliamentary panel investigating the phone hacking scandal shows that Rupert Murdoch’s son James received and responded to messages in 2008 that referred to widespread phone hacking at The News of the World tabloid, the first documentation that he may have been notified of the wider problem long before he has admitted.

James Murdoch responded to the panel in a letter, saying that he had opened the e-mails on his BlackBerry and had not read their full contents at the time or since.

The e-mail chain was sent to the panel as part of an internal investigation by News International, the tabloid’s parent company. The e-mails contain warnings from lawyers that the phone hacking was more widespread than previously thought. The messages were passed on to the editor of The News of the World at the time, Colin Myler, who forwarded them to Mr. Murdoch, who replied within minutes, saying he would be available to discuss the matter.

The email discusses lawsuits and notes that the situation is “as bad as we feared”, which indicates that the highest levels of News Corp knew about this far earlier than they’ve cared to admit.