But the Mail had shown that the links existed, which Harman could not deny, and Newsnight provided a forum for her to say sorry, to apologise for being the legal officer of an organisation that offered credibility to PIE.
Having your clients come to you offers credibility as a company, but involves a much higher initial investment to cover the costs of a location.
Offsets with these standards offer extra credibility, but that still doesn't make them watertight.
In an age of social media and declining deference, it seems individuals may offer more credibility than institutions.
The documents shed light on a rarely public corner of Washington lobbying, where industry lobbyists join with grass-roots groups that offer ideological credibility and deep mailing lists of sympathetic activists — sometimes for a price.
George Eustice MP, an environment minister who is one of around a dozen other ministers likely to break with David Cameron to back Brexit, said it wasn't necessarily crucial to have Gove in a leadership role, but that he did offer intellectual credibility.
Institutional accreditation and individual certification may not be enough, given the complexity and considerable variance that occurs in areas that traditionally offer academic credibility such as examination and simulated skill-testing systems.
Tony Pipa, a consultant who started the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, said the funds offered donors credibility and accountability.
One featured article about a renovation of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland quoted TravelGolf's president and publisher, Robert Lewis, as well as Brian Gowdy, its vice president for the European division; independent sources would have offered greater credibility.
Then again, a lot of people like the knowledge that they've bought a real SUV, not a poseur, and the 4Runner offers that credibility.
