A House of Commons select committee will again call News Corp. son James Murdoch to answer questions about his knowledge of the company’s never-ending phone-hacking scandal. As expected, the testimony of two former executives tied to the now-shuttered News of the World tabloid triggered a second look at Murdoch’s perhaps less-than-truthful answers when he faced the government panel in July. James maintains that he believed the phone-hacking occurred in a single case despite his former employees’ claims that they informed him in 2008 of the widespread nature of the reporting tool within the organization. Today, committee chairman John Whittingdale confirmed that Murdoch would be recalled, but only after testimony from Les Hinton, the top News Corp. executive to quit amid the scandal.
Meanwhile, the civil case against the Murdoch newspapers continues to grow. The mother of 7/7 terrorist attack victim Christian Small has filed legal action, joining celebrities like actor Steve Coogan and soccer agent Sky Andrew. Police informed Small’s mother that her son’s phone was targeted by News of the World private investigator Glenn Mulcaire after the 2005 train bombings as she frantically tried to locate him. “If this is accurate it shows that in the week we commemorated the the victims of 9/11 the victims of our own terrorist attack have had their memories insulted in a callous and inhuman way,” said Labour MP Tom Watson.
British Hacking Inquiry to Recall James Murdoch [NYT]
Phone hacking: mother of 7/7 victim to sue News of the World publisher [Guardian UK]
