{"id":5387,"date":"2011-07-14T02:04:02","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T09:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=5387"},"modified":"2011-07-14T02:04:02","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T09:04:02","slug":"murdoch-the-plot-intensifies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/14\/murdoch-the-plot-intensifies\/","title":{"rendered":"Murdoch: The Plot Intensifies"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a bad day for Rupert.  In the UK, he has lost BSkyB, a big hit to his propaganda empire.  The Prime Minister he used to own has turned on him, and investigations are beginning.  In the US, there are multiple calls for criminal investigations.  Even the Bancroft family is running for cover, claiming that if only they had known, they would never sold him the WSJ, but more about them later.  We have a lot of ground to cover.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"14BSkyB\"Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. abruptly withdrew its bid to take over Britain’s biggest satellite broadcaster Wednesday, bowing to intense pressure from lawmakers and a general public outraged over a spiraling phone-hacking scandal involving newspapers owned by the Australia-born tycoon.<\/p>\n

"We believe that the proposed acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation would benefit both companies, but it has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate," Chase Carey, the deputy chairman of News Corp., said in a terse statement released Wednesday afternoon in London.<\/p>\n

The decision was a humiliating turnaround for Murdoch and for News Corp., which has been seeking government approval for months to take control of BSkyB. Owning the broadcast company would have represented a major expansion of Murdoch’s already-large media empire in Britain, which includes newspapers such as the Times of London and the Sun.<\/p>\n

Only 10 days ago, Murdoch seemed on track to receive the green light for his $12 billion bid. The British government had given strong indications it would grant permission for the takeover on the grounds that antitrust rules on media ownership would not be violated\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>><\/p>\n

This is HUGE!  It\u2019s as though he had been unable to get Faux Noise<\/em> here.<\/font><\/p>\n

Let the investigations begin.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"14Murdoch\"The scandal enveloping the media conglomerate News Corp. crossed the Atlantic on Wednesday, as several Senate Democrats called for investigations of allegations that the firm bribed foreign officials and hacked the phones of 9\/11 victims.<\/p>\n

Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) all called for the U.S. government to act on Wednesday, even as News Corp. dropped its bid to take over the British satellite TV provider BSkyB under political pressure from the U.K. Parliament.<\/p>\n

Later on Wednesday, Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, became the first Republican to call for an FBI investigation<\/strong>. Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) also called for a probe\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <The Hill<\/a>><\/p>\n

I suspect that King is privy to inside information, and he\u2019s getting out of the line of fire.  I expect Issa will hold hearings too, trying to assist in the cover up.<\/font><\/p>\n

Keith Olbermann has the story in two segments with John Dean and Michael Wolff on Countdown<\/a>.<\/font><\/p>\n