 Worse was to follow when Seán Doherty, the man who as Minister for Justice had taken the blame for the phone-tapping scandal of the early 1980s, went on television on RTÉ to reveal that Haughey had known about and authorised the phone-tapping.Haughey denied all charges, but the Progressive Democrat members of government stated that they could no longer continue in government with him as Taoiseach.Haughey told Desmond O'Malley, the PD leader, that he intended to resign shortly, but wanted to choose his own time of departure.