21st Century Fox Says Justice Department Won’t Prosecute in Phone Hacking Case

21st Century Fox and sister company News Corp. said on Monday that the Department of Justice won’t prosecute either company after investigating allegations in the British phone hacking scandal.

“21st Century Fox and News Corp. have been notified by the United States Department of Justice that it has completed its investigation of voicemail interception and payments to public officials in London, and is declining to prosecute either company,” said Gerson Zweifach, general counsel of News Corp. and senior executive vice president and group general counsel of 21st Century Fox. “We are grateful that this matter has been concluded and acknowledge the fairness and professionalism of the Department of Justice throughout this investigation.”

In 2011, the FBI began an investigation into claims that employees of News Corp.’s News of the World sought to hack into the phone records of 9/11 victims. The investigation also looked into claims of whether payments to public officials in London violated U.S. anti-bribery laws. Some Capitol Hill lawmakers called on the DOJ to investigate the claims, raising the prospect that the wrongdoing at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct U.K. tabloid News of the World was more widespread.

Last year, former News of the World editor Andy Coulson was convicted in a London court of one count of conspiring to hack phones. His predecessor, Rebekah Brooks, was cleared of all charges.

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