8/6/2019 DNAinfo - Family Members Call for Investigation of News Corp Manhattan

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Family Members Call for Investigation of News Corp Manhattan

9/11 Victims Families Call for Investigation of News Corporation

Families of the victims of 9/11, along with members of Congress want an investigation of allegations that News

Corporation subsidiaries attempted to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.

By Kareem Johnson

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN Family members of victims of 9/11 and lawmakers in Washington are calling for an investigation into

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation after allegations that reporters for the tabloid newspaper News of the World

were seeking to hack the phones of love ones, Politco reported Wednesday.

Sally Regenhard, vice-chairwoman of the 9/11 Parents and Families of Firefighters & World Trade Center Victims,

told the political website that she supports a probe.

"I think we really need to look at national and international standards for security for privacy for this type of thing,"

Regenhard told Politico in an interview. "Its hard enough for people to deal with the 10th anniversary and now this it

just adds more salt to the wounds."

Regenhard lost her son, a firefighter, on Sept. 11.

Jim Riches, a former Deputy Chief with the New York Fire Department who lost his son in the attacks told Politico that

he thought they had crossed the line, and that that allegations of hacking should be investigated further.

"Theyre trying to get messages from loved ones in the last moments of their lives. Its horrible, and they should be

held accountable. Its despicable and unethical," he said.

In addition to families of the victims calling for an investigation, there is increasing pressure from politicians,

particularly those from New Jersey, where reportedly many of 9/11 victims were residents.

New Jersey Democratic senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez have both called on the Department of

Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate News Corporation's conduct.

Lautenberg, in a written statement said that the information reported raised serious questions about News

Corporation's conduct. "Further investigation may reveal that current reports only scratch the surface of the problem

at News Corporation," he wrote.

Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) sent a letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder

and Securities and Exchange Chairman Mary Schapiro, calling for those agencies to determine whether News

Corporation subsidiaries attempted to bribe British police and whether Americans' phones were hacked.

"The reported allegations against News Corporation are very serious, indicate a pattern of illegal activity, and involve

thousands of potential victims. It is important to ensure that no United States laws were broken and no United States

citizens were victimized," the letter said.

When asked during a press conference on Wednesday, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that there had

been no indication of familys phones being hacked. "We have not been contacted by any of the authorities in the

UK," he said.