Rupert Murdoch: Scandal, phone hacking, and foam whacking (VIDEO)
British lawmakers questioned the contrite Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and Rebekah Brooks about their knowledge of illicit phone hacking by the shuttered tabloid News of the World.
London
Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and Rebekah Brooks all expressed sorrow over phone hacking practices of News of the World (NotW), the shuttered News Corporation-owned tabloid that Ms. Brooks once ran, sticking closely to a script that has Mr. Murdoch's executives now doing all they can to cooperate with investigators.
But in more than an hour before a special committee of Parliament, the elder Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of News Corp., refused to directly say that he or any of his executives were responsible for what one questioner called the “whole fiasco” of hacking that appears to have touched nearly 4,000 Brits.
In his highly anticipated testimony to Parliament in the midst of a volcanic scandal that could harm his empire and fortune and continues to see arrests and resignations, the mogul kept his head down and his answers short. He often said he forgot specific details and relied heavily on James, who took over the answering of questions at many points.
“This is the most humble day of my life,” said the Australian-born billionaire in the first minutes of the hearing. But “yes," “no,” and “I don’t know” were often the answers that followed.
