Rockefeller Calls for News Corp. Investigation

Concerned that hacking could extend to 9/11 victims and other Americans

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/12/2011 11:19:20 PM

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) says the "appropriate agencies" should investigate whether News Corp. broke any U.S. laws.

"The reported hacking by News Corporation newspapers against a range of individuals -- including children -- is offensive and a serious breach of journalistic ethics," said Rockefeller in a statement late Tuesday. "This raises serious questions about whether the company has broken U.S. law, and I encourage the appropriate agencies to investigate to ensure that Americans have not had their privacy violated. I am concerned that the admitted phone hacking in London by the News Corp. may have extended to 9/11 victims or other Americans.  If they did, the consequences will be severe," he said.

News Corp.'s U.K. tabloid, News of the World, reportedly engaged in illegal phone tapping to get stories, a hacking scandal that has widened in recent days.