News of The World Trial: Murdoch say Top Executives Did not Know about the Phone Hacking

Rupert Murdoch and his son James appeared Tuesday before British lawmakers probing the phone hacking scandal that has seized public life, raising questions about the police, politicians and the media elite in the worst crisis to confront Prime Minister David Cameron.

“This is the most humble day of my life,” Mr. Murdoch senior said.

James Murdoch said he had “no knowledge and there’s no evidence that I’m aware of” that Ms. Brooks or other senior executives who have resigned from Murdoch companies as a result of the crisis had knowledge of phone hacking.

Lawmakers questioned Mr. Murdoch senior about news reports suggesting that The News of the World may have sought the phone numbers of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. He said he had “seen no evidence of these allegations.”

Rupert Murdoch said he had ordered that The News of the World be shut down because “we felt ashamed of what happened and felt that we would bring it to a close — we had broken our trust with our readers.” He denied a suggestion that the decision was made for commercial reasons.

Source: The New York Times