Blair's Wife Defends Herself

Cherie Blair, wife of the British prime minister, conceded Tuesday that she made mistakes in her involvement with an Australian con man, but denied allegations of wrongdoing.

Mrs. Blair has been pounded by the British press for 10 days for using a convicted con artist to help her buy a couple of pricey apartments and then trying to conceal that fact, reports CBS News Correspondent Steve Holt.

Choking back tears at one point, she said she erred twice — by allowing someone she barely knew to become involved in her family's affairs, and by brushing off questions in an attempt to protect her family's privacy.

Earlier Tuesday, the office of Prime Minister Tony Blair accused the press of "character assassination," and insisted there was no evidence of wrongdoing in Cherie Blair's dealings with Peter Foster, a convicted con man.

The prime minister's office said Cherie Blair had not acted illegally or improperly while having Foster help her close a $790,000 property deal.

But allegations that immigration officials tried to hasten Foster's deportation from Britain and that Cherie Blair called the con man's lawyers to discuss his case kept the story on front pages.

"I now realize I made two mistakes," Cherie Blair said in a detailed statement Tuesday night.

The "immediate instinct" when faced with newspaper questions about the deal "was to protect my family's privacy and particularly my son in his first term at university living away from home," she said.

"The second mistake I made was to allow someone I barely knew and had not then met to get involved in my family's affairs," she said.

Blair's wife said she had not known the "full story" about Foster until a couple of weeks ago, and that she had only met him once "for less than five minutes."

She had been faced with allegations that she or people at her husband's office had phoned the Home Office and the Immigration Department to take up Foster's deportation case "or depending on which allegation you listen to, to kick Mr. Foster out of the country."

"Neither set of allegations is true," she said.

"I am sorry if I have embarrassed anyone but the people who know me well know that I would never want to harm anyone — least of all Tony or the children or the Labor government, or misuse my position in any way," Cherie Blair said.

Foster helped Blair's wife negotiate the purchase of two apartments in Bristol, and saved her a reported $109,000.

The deal was legal, but Cherie Blair — a leading civil rights attorney — and her husband's office created a political crisis by at first denying, then confirming, Foster's involvement.