KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 — In its defence of Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) exposes on the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, its publisher Dow Jones & Company trumpeted its more than 125-year history in which it has built up a ‘sterling reputation” for the accuracy of its reporting.

In a reply to Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s lawyers, the US-based firm, Dow Jones’ counsel and chief compliance officer Jason P. Conti gave his assurance that the international business newspaper does not intend to tarnish its image now or in the future, whether in its reports on the Malaysian prime minister or others.

“You should know that the Journal has maintained a sterling reputation for fair and accurate reporting for more than 125 years.

“We have not strayed from that distinguished history in our coverage of your client, nor do we intend to do so in our future coverage,” the lawyer wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

The letter from Dow Jones was in reply to Najib’s lawyers who on July 8 gave the publication 14 days to confirm if it had meant to accuse the prime minister of misappropriating US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) of 1MDB money.

The letter seeking clarification is seen as a precursor to further legal action that the prime minister may take against the renowned newspaper for its exposes on 1MDB.

In other parts of his reply, Conti had told Najib’s lawyers that the two offending articles they cited in their July 8 letter — a July 2 news report titled “Malaysia leader’s accounts probed” and an opinion piece on July 6 titled “Scandal in Malaysia” — were based on facts available to WSJ’s writers.

The Dow Jones counsel also reminded the Malaysian lawyers that the July 2 news article had expressly stated that the original source of the US$700 million was unknown and that the money trail linking the funds to what is believed to be Najib’s personal accounts had not shown how the money was spent.

In its report three weeks ago, WSJ, citing documents from Malaysian investigators currently scrutinising the troubled 1MDB’s financials, claimed that a money trail showed that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) were moved among government agencies, banks and companies before it ended up in Najib’s accounts.

In his response, Najib immediately denied taking funds from 1MDB or any other public entity for “personal gain” and his lawyers wrote on July 8 to Dow Jones, asking the firm to state if WSJ was accusing the prime minister of misappropriating the funds.

A special task force has also been formed to investigate 1MDB, comprising the Attorney-General’s Chambers, Bank Negara Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police and the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has made allegations against 1MDB as the cornerstone of his campaign to remove Najib from office, and has variously claimed that the firm’s funds have gone “missing”, “vanished” or “disappeared”.