DOJ Notified News Corp. About Phone-Record Seizure

The Justice Department notified the parent company of Fox News more than two years ago about its seizure of phone records belonging to one of its reporters, a Fox official said.

The parent company, News Corp, didn't tell Fox about the notification, the Fox official said. This new detail helps clear up a mystery at the heart of the continuing controversy over the government's actions. Over the past week, officials at Fox have denied they were notified of the phone-record subpoenas, while law-enforcement officials insisted they were. It appears the reason for the discrepancy was that the notice was sent to News Corp.