The FBI is investigating allegations that Rupert Murdoch's media empire News Corp. tried to hack into the phones of 9/11 victims and their families, according to a law enforcement officer speaking with the Associated Press. The Wall Street Journal confirms that an investigation is underway. The source spoke on condition of anonymity. An FBI investigation is the latest development bringing the British media scandal to the U.S. following news Wednesday that three Democratic senators and Republican Rep. Peter King are calling for an investigation into News Corp. In the request on Wednesday, Sens. Jay Rockefeller, Barbara Boxer and Frank Lautenberg sent two letters to the Justice Department and SEC that "raised questions about possible violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an antibribery law that U.S. authorities have enforced with vigor in recent years," reported The Wall Street Journal. Previous reports on the scandal have accused the News Corp. tabloid News of the World (now defunct) of hacking into the phone of a 13-year-old murder victim, members of the British royal family, and victims of the 2005 London bombing. Today, in an about-face, Murdoch caved to pressure from the British government and will appear before the British Parliament next Tuesday as Parliament investigates the allegations against the company.

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John Hudson