Aide Unable to Confirm Voice in Questioned Audio: PM Takaichi

Tokyo, June 11 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has suggested that she was unable to confirm the authenticity of a voice believed to be that of her secretary in audio from an online meeting attended by a man believed to have created videos defaming the prime minister’s rivals in key elections last year. At a parliamentary meeting Wednesday, Takaichi said she was told by the secretary that the voice “sounds similar to mine, but I cannot be certain.” The prime minister was speaking following a report by the Shukan Bunshun weekly that her campaign posted on social media videos defaming her rivals in the elections, including the ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential race. Takaichi quoted the secretary as saying that the remarks in the audio “were edited into fragments.” She also said that the secretary was “uncertain” about who made the remarks. According to the prime minister, the secretary participated in a group online conference last year with a company introduced by a trustworthy person, during which the aide was briefed on a project aimed at gathering public opinion. Also at the parliamentary meeting, Takaichi acknowledged the authenticity of a written reply by her office to another weekly magazine that confirmed the link between the secretary and the man who claimed to have created defamatory videos, correcting her parliamentary remarks Friday, when she said that the reply was factually inaccurate. In an X post Wednesday, Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, said that he was acquainted with the video creator, adding that the man supported his policies and political stance. He said that he had commissioned the production of 12 videos for his YouTube program to a company introduced by the man, while asserting that he never asked anyone to produce or distribute defamatory videos. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]