'The Most Humble Day of My Life': Murdoch Grilled in U.K. Hacking Scandal

Rupert Murdoch sparred Tuesday with a committee of MPs on the phone-hacking scandal that has rocked his world empire, under the shock of hard questions before you calm down and pushing his interrogators with flashes of his legendary tenacity. The elder Murdoch banged his hands on the table and said that the day was the most humble of his life, becoming upset when the committee members peppered him with questions and turning to his son James for some answers.

He recovered later in a tense question and answer session with legislators, pushing with firm denials of wrongdoing. Murdoch, 80, said he was "shocked, appalled and ashamed" to hacking the phone a schoolgirl murdered by her now-shuttered tabloid News of the World. He said he had seen no evidence that the victims of those 11 September 2001 against terrorism and their families were targeted by any of his papers.
(See pictures of the legendary career of Rupert Murdoch.)

Murdoch said he was not responsible for the scandal of piracy, and his company was not guilty of willful blindness. He repeatedly struck away from questions about operations at the New World by saying he was not really in touch with the tabloid or did not know what was happening there.

Murdoch also told the committee he did not believe that the FBI had found evidence of pirating September 11 victims in an investigation recently launched. He said he lost sight of the New World because it is a small part of his company and spoke to the newspaper publisher only about once a month to talk more with the editor of the Sunday Times in Britain and the Wall Street Journal United States

James Murdoch apologized for the scandal, saying British lawmakers that "these actions are not up to the standards of our society aspires."

The young Murdoch said the company acted as quickly and as transparently as possible. Rupert Murdoch, acknowledged, however, he had not investigated after Murdoch 'former chief British newspaper, Rebekah Brooks, told parliament that year the New World had paid police for information.

When asked by lawmakers why there was no investigation, he said: "I did not know him." He said that the New World "is less than 1 percent" of his News Corp., which employs 53 000 people. Murdoch also said he was unaware that his company had paid large sums - £ 700,000 (1.1 million) in one case - to settle litigation by victims of phone hacking.