Rupert Murdoch criticism reaches the U.S., but will it affect News Corp.?

By Paul Farhi and Anthony Faiola,
WashPost
Published: July 13

The phone-hacking scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch’s British media operations threatened to cross the Atlantic on Wednesday, with calls by several lawmakers for investigations into whether Murdoch’s News Corp. violated U.S. laws.

Following a British newspaper’s report that Murdoch’s London-based journalists had tried to tap into phones of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Democratic Sens. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), Barbara Boxer (Calif.), Robert Menendez (N.J.) and Frank Lautenberg (N.J.) urged federal agencies to examine whether any U.S. phone accounts were hacked. So far, there are no signs of that occurring.

The critics also included the first prominent Republican, Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), who ripped Murdoch’s “yellow journalism” in a letter to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III requesting an inquiry. King chairs the House Committee on Homeland Security.

The unfolding scandal has imperiled Murdoch’s British operations, leading to the withdrawal Wednesday of his $12 billion offer for the country’s largest satellite television operator, British Sky Broadcasting Corp. But it so far hasn’t touched his much larger and more profitable U.S. holdings.

(More here.)