Hyogo Gov. Motohiko Saito, accused of workplace bullying, was adamant during a hearing Friday that he did not abuse his power, saying he still doesn’t believe that a whistleblower in the prefectural office who made the accusations should have been protected under the law.
Saito has been at the center of a series of controversies since a tell-all document started to circulate among prefectural government officials and media in March. It accused the governor of various acts of misconduct, including workplace bullying, violating political campaign laws and demanding and receiving gifts in an official capacity.
On Friday, Saito said he “has no memory of” prefectural officials suggesting that he wait until an internal investigation had concluded before taking any disciplinary action against the document's author, and that he didn’t believe it was a problem to let the vice governor, who was also accused of wrongdoing in the document, to investigate.
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