They believe we think

The Telegraph reports that:

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is escalating its probe into alleged bribery and corruption at BAE Systems, with one line of investigation being a series of commission payments personally overseen by chief executive Mike Turner during the late 1980s.

It's a good article, with some inside information. But this really spoils it:

It is thought the company, which has always maintained the commissions paid are perfectly legal, legitimate and not bribes, believes Turner is being unfairly smeared.

So Turner, who is still chief executive, wants to claim that he is being unfairly smeared. It's not unusual for such spin to be dressed up as 'X believes he is hard done by'. Of course, the journalist has no way of knowing what X really believes. Here the journalist put some small distance between herself and what Turner believes. But still, if she has to admit she doesn't know what Turner believes, she should leave the spin out altogether.