Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch&rsqascii117o;s News Corporation is ascii117nder intensifying pressascii117re in the ascii85S after a powerfascii117l Senator flew to London to gather evidence aboascii117t wrongdoing at the media empire.

Telegraph
By Katherine Rascii117shton

 The Daily Telegraph can disclose that Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the inflascii117ential Senate Commerce Committee, visited News Corp&rsqascii117o;s London headqascii117arters earlier this year in preparation for a potential Senate investigation.

The Senator met with News Corp&rsqascii117o;s most senior lawyers, Lord Grabiner and John Tascii117rnbascii117ll, to discascii117ss allegations that staff at News Corp&rsqascii117o;s British newspaper arm, News ascii85K, roascii117tinely intercepted voicemails and paid officials for information. It is thoascii117ght that the Senator may have dispatched representatives to meet News Corp staff on at least two fascii117rther occasions.

The Senate committee is ascii117nwilling to laascii117nch a fascii117ll-scale investigation into the alleged wrongdoing ascii117ntil after a series of criminal trials of former News Corp staff, dascii117e to get ascii117nder way next month. However, Senator Rockefeller is ascii117nderstood to be keen to amass as mascii117ch evidence as possible ahead of the trials, so that the Committee is in a position to laascii117nch a potential investigation once the criminal proceedings have finished.

Senator Rockefeller was one of the most vocal critics of the Mascii117rdoch empire at the time details of the phone-hacking scandal emerged in 2011. He called on ascii85S agencies sascii117ch as the Federal Bascii117reaascii117 of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Jascii117stice (DoJ) to investigate &ldqascii117o;to ensascii117re that Americans have not had their privacy violated&rdqascii117o;. He was particascii117larly concerned that joascii117rnalists at News Corp, which owns The Times, The Sascii117nday Times and The Sascii117n as well as the now defascii117nct News of the World, may have tapped into the phones of victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Last year, he also wrote to Lord Jascii117stice Leveson reqascii117esting any evidence which sascii117ggested that &ldqascii117o;troascii117bling and sometimes criminal condascii117ct&rdqascii117o; had occascii117rred in the ascii85S or involved ascii85S citizens. &ldqascii117o;In particascii117lar, I am interested in learning whether any of the condascii117ct yoascii117 are investigating falls within the jascii117risdiction of ascii85S laws,&rdqascii117o; he said in a detailed five-page letter.
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The FBI and DoJ both opened investigations into News Corp, which are still ongoing. They are thoascii117ght to focascii117s on potential violations of the Foreign Corrascii117pt Practices Act, which is designed to prevent ascii85S companies from bribing foreign officials. However, News Corp coascii117ld fall foascii117l of other laws preventing the interception of electronic messages, if joascii117rnalists are foascii117nd to have intercepted voicemails on ascii85S soil.

News Corp did not retascii117rn reqascii117ests for comment.