After 7 Years, No End in Sight to Phone Hacking Scandal

The phone hacking scandal that shook Rupert Murdoch’s global media empire and hit the heart of the British government began quietly on a Monday in 2005, when aides to the British royal family gathered in a palace office appointed with priceless antiques to air suspicions that their voice mail messages had been intercepted. Seven years and dozens of arrests later, the day after the latest criminal charges were brought, information from the police, prosecutors and investigators indicated that the investigations are likely to go on for years, with no obvious end in sight. If it is proved that those in Murdoch’s employ conspired to pay public officials to further business interests, experts say he could be at risk of sanctions in the United States under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Even a small fine would threaten to take the scandal across the Atlantic, and increase political pressure on Murdoch’s lucrative American interests.