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News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch could see his company face prosecution in the US for its operations in the UK. Stephen Chernin/AP

US senator demands investigation into possible 9/11 phone-hacking

Highly-regarded senator Jay Rockefeller says the fallout from the News of the World raises ‘serious questions’.

A HIGHLY-REGARDED US senator has demanded an investigation into whether News Corporation broke American laws in its British phone-hacking – and whether its US operations targeted victims of the September 11 attacks.

Jay Rockefeller, who chairs the Senate’s influential committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, says reports of how the July 7 bombing victims were targets of voicemail hacking raise questions about whether 9/11 victims were also targeted.

“I am concerned that the admitted phone hacking in London by the News Corp may have extended to 9/11 victims or other Americans,” Rockefeller said in a statement given to the Daily Telegraph.

“I encourage the appropriate agencies to investigate, to ensure that Americans have not had their privacy violated.”

He added:

If they did, the consequences will be severe.

Even if phone-hacking was not pursued by US-based titles, News Corp could still be prosecuted under American laws which forbid any US company’s foreign operations from bribing police or officials.

News Corp’s US operations include the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the TV news network Fox News.

Calls for a US probe came after the Daily Mirror claimed that a former NYPD officer, who since worked as a private detective, was contacted by the News of the World about a potential phone-hacking operation targeting the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

It said the detective had turned the offer down, believing the operation was insensitive and fearing that it would eventually become public.

Plans for News Corp to complete a full takeover of the British TV broadcaster BSkyB appear dead in the water, as all three major political parties in the UK are set to back a motion calling on News Corp and its founder Rupert Murdoch to drop their bid.

Shares in News Corp had dropped around 15 per cent of their value in the last week, as the firm’s largest selling newspaper closes and the bid for BSkyB flounders – prompting shareholders to sue the company for the lost value of their investments.

This morning The Sun has posted a video purporting to feature its source for the story that Gordon Brown’s son Fraser had cystic fibrosis – a story which led the former British Prime Minister to believe that he had also been a victim of phone-hacking.

Yesterday in the Dáil, Kerry South deputy Michael Healy-Rae called for an Irish investigation into the extent of any illegal activity by News International’s Irish titles.

Read: British government to pressure Murdoch to abandon BSkyB bid >

Read: Shareholders sue News Corp over hacking scandal >

Read: Gordon Brown’s bank account and medical records hacked >

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3 Comments
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    Mute Fergal O' Reilly
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:14 AM

    That a 500 year leasehold was signed with a private developer in 1997, says a lot about the sad state of public planning in the city.

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    Mute Niamh Hand
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:21 AM

    That’s a good news story to go to bed with. Good on Lord iveagh

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    Mute steve white
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:38 AM

    @Niamh Hand: where was he the last 20 years?

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    Mute Fergal O' Reilly
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:11 AM

    @steve white: 20 years ago a still recent lease agreement was in effect, so he was as powerless to intervene as the rest of us.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Dec 10th 2020, 5:09 AM

    @steve white: dope

    61
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    Mute Chris O'Sullivan
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:47 AM

    @steve white: drinking pints I’d assume

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    Mute the-baldie-lad
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:25 AM

    Hands up if you agree that Alan Kelly is an eejit

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    Mute Mary Nugent
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:25 AM

    @the-baldie-lad: utd fan out in the open was it Leo on the luas

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    Mute Shane McGrath
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:22 AM

    Excellent news.

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    Mute DJ François
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    Dec 10th 2020, 10:36 AM

    Be nice to have something along the lines of the English market in Cork

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    Mute muirhill121
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    Dec 10th 2020, 7:49 AM

    Hopefully, he won’t grant another lease to DCC so they can balls it up again!

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    Mute Shay Flynn
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:00 AM

    My dad had a butchers shop there for years.

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    Mute Colm Molloy
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:38 AM

    A market like the ones in Barcelona would be the job there..

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    Mute D Cullen
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    Dec 10th 2020, 8:36 AM

    Should be sequestered by the state along with all lands and properties that were divided amongst the lords of the English elite!

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:15 AM

    @D Cullen: That’d be great if the state were capable of managing the lands and properties. Read the article and you will understand that the State is not up to the job.

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    Mute El Sparko
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:20 AM

    @D Cullen: so the state can then sell it on the ruthless developers and give themselves pay raises??
    No thank, at least Lord Iveagh will do something that benefits the people of Dublin, like he has done many times in the past.

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    Mute Paul
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:46 AM

    @D Cullen: except the Guinness’s are Anglo-Irish not English, just like many of Ireland’s rebel leaders of the past, Pearse / Wolfe Tone etc. The first Lord Iveagh was born is Dublin and is known for providing housing for the poor etc.

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    Mute The world outside the M50
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:06 AM

    His Christian/First name is very odd, don’t you think – ‘Lord’ ??

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