In response to requests from members of Congress and at least one press report, the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York has opened a preliminary investigation Thursday into allegations that journalists from News Corporation has sought access to records telephone victims of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to several people briefed on the matter.
This research is in its early stages, two people said, and its scope is unclear. It is also unclear whether the FBI has identified potential targets of the investigation or any specific crimes.
The office is "taking a hard look at a couple points of view," said one of the people. Person said that the evaluation was managed well, the term of office uses to characterize the early stages of an investigation into possible adoption of the first challenges, or using other research tools such as wiretapping.
The study was prompted in part by a letter from Representative Peter T. King, a Republican from Long Island, Robert S. Mueller III, FBI director, asking the agency to quickly launch an investigation into the new society, citing news reports that journalists working for its subsidiary, New World, had tried to obtain phone records of nine / 11 victims through corruption and illegal wiretapping, the people said.
The decision to open a case in New York came the scandal spread of piracy that has ravaged England for several days, since the News of the World revelations had illegally exploited the voicemail Milly Dowler, a 13-year kidnapped and murdered in 2002. It also follows a decision by News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch, to withdraw from the takeover of the biggest media in British history.
The survey was intended to be jointly managed by two squadrons of the FBI office in New York, which examines cyber crime, which focuses on public corruption and white collar crime, two people said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.
It is unclear whether federal prosecutors in Manhattan had been involved in the case, you probably have jurisdiction over any criminal prosecution, since the 9 / 11 victims and their mobile phones were in Manhattan, where they died.
Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, also declined comment.
Laura Sweeney, a spokeswoman for the Department of Justice in Washington, said: "The department does not comment specifically on the investigation, but every time we see evidence of wrongdoing, we will take appropriate action the department has received letters several members of Congress about allegations of News Corporation. and we review. "
Jack Horner, a spokesman, declined comment.
Mr. King said in his letter on Wednesday that he had asked to investigate not only the chairman of Parliament's Subcommittee on National Security, but also the member of Congress whose district has lost more than 150 people in 9 / 11 attacks. "And 'my duty to distinguish the reality behind each of these allegations," he wrote.
He cited recent press reports, apparently referring to an article published Monday in the Daily Mirror, the main competitor for the New World, which closed Sunday after the scandal. The article said the journalists working for the newspaper contacted a private investigator, a former New York police, and offered to pay to retrieve the phone numbers of victims of 9 / 11 and call information that "they have made and received in the days before the attacks.
"If these allegations are true," Mr. King wrote, "the conduct deserves charges of attempting to violate various federal statutes relating to bribery of public officials and a ban on bugging Any person found guilty of the alleged conduct should receive. severest penalties provided by law. "
It is not clear whether the person listed in the Daily Mirror had a policeman at the time of the attacks.
At least five Democrats, who had been critical of the News Corporation, spoke on the subject this week. Mr. King was the first Republican to call for an investigation into the activities of the company, whose CEO, Mr. Murdoch is a supporter of conservative causes and Republican politicians.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia, was the first to submit a declaration on the matter said on Tuesday that the U.S. government should continue the investigation to "ensure that Americans have had their privacy violated."
On Wednesday, he was joined by two senators from New Jersey, Robert Menendez and Frank R. Lautenberg. Sen. Menendez asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations involving 09.11 victims, saying in his letter that the "great importance" of piracy in Britain was "imperative to examine whether the victims in the United States have also been affected ".
Senator Lautenberg has proposed that the Ministry of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission should investigate the case and consider opening a formal investigation. He said news reports that the journalists were "paying the London police information, including your private information by phone, the British royal family and other persons for use in newspaper articles."
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