LONDON — Summoned by British lawmakers Tuesday to account for a phone hacking and bribery scandal, Rupert Murdoch said he was humbled and ashamed but accepted no personal responsibility, insisting he was at fault only for trusting the wrong people at a now-defunct tabloid that made up a tiny portion of his vast media empire.
The 80-year-old media tycoon endured a three-hour grilling from lawmakers and escaped attempts to tar him with individual blame for the scandal that has rocked his empire and embroiled Britain’s top police, politicians and many journalists.
Murdoch appeared confused and flustered in the beginning of the parliamentary committee hearing, turning frequently to his son James for answers. But he regained his trademark cool and confidently told the committee that he wasn’t responsible for eavesdropping or bribing police. He also said he had no plans to resign.
He stayed seated when a prankster tried to throw a foam pie, splattering his suit jacket before Murdoch’s 42-year-old wife sprang to his aid, slapping the man, who was quickly arrested.
The scandal has become a page-turner of a drama, captivating audiences from America to Murdoch’s native Australia with scenes of private detectives hacking phones, cops being bribed for news tips, politicians being wined and dined and a murdered teenager whose phone messages were allegedly intercepted. And there’s more to come — only a fraction of the nearly 4,000 people whose information was targeted are known and the police investigation appears to be widening.
“This is the most humble day of my career,” said Murdoch, a man once so politically powerful that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew halfway around the world to secure Murdoch’s support as he launched the Labour Party’s bid for power in 1995.
The scandal began as a blip in 2005, when the News of the World published a story about Prince William’s knee injury. Royal officials became suspicious about the closely held data and alerted police. An inquiry led to one of the paper’s reporters and a private investigator being jailed.
The Guardian newspaper then found out that Murdoch’s papers had paid out more than $1.6 million (1 million pounds) to settle lawsuits involving allegations of eavesdropping on phone messages, but the most damning allegation came on July 4, following a revelation that the News of the World may have hacked into the phone of a 13-year-old murder victim, Milly Dowler, in hopes of getting material for news stories.
Outside of the hearing, small groups of protesters gathered with signs showing Murdoch as Darth Vader, the evil lord in the Star Wars movies.
Two of Murdoch’s top executives, Rebekah Brooks and Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton, have resigned. Brooks and Prime Minister David Cameron’s former communications chief, Andy Coulson — a former editor at News of the World — have also been arrested.
Occasionally punctuating remarks by slapping his hands down on the desk, Murdoch said he was “shocked, appalled and ashamed” at the hacking of the Dowler’s phone but he rejected that criminality had been endemic at the tabloid. He also said he had seen no evidence that victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attack were hacked.
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