Oh, this is the end. My only friend the end

The phone hacking scandal that has ignited a political firestorm in Britain jumped the Atlantic on Thursday as the FBI opened an investigation into whether British reporters tried to access cellphone messages and records of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in violation of U.S. law.
The preliminary probe further rattled the New York-based global media empire of Rupert Murdoch, who was forced this week to withdraw his $12-billion bid to take over Britain's largest satellite broadcaster, and raises new questions about the future of News Corp.

The unfolding scandal sent the company's battered stock down (News Corporation NWSA.O) another 3% in trading. It has lost 17% since the crisis began.

The FBI's New York field office launched the investigation after several members of Congress urged an inquiry into British media reports that journalists at News Corp.'s recently closed News of the World tabloid in London had tried to gain access to phones of Sept. 11 victims and the families of those who died, according to federal law enforcement officials.

Felony convictions in a U.S. court could imperil the 27 federal licenses that News Corp. uses to operate TV stations across the country. The stations are part of the Fox Broadcasting Co. network.

Murdoch defended his company's handling of the widening controversy, saying executives had made only "minor mistakes."

Murdoch said he was "getting annoyed" with press coverage of the scandal, but said, "I'll get over it."

In a letter Wednesday to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, had cited reports that News of the World journalists "attempted to obtain phone records of victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11th through bribery and unauthorized wiretapping."

King also cited reports that the reporters had solicited a New York police officer "to gain access to the content of private phone records" of the Sept. 11 victims.

Other members of the House and Senate from both parties called for congressional investigations, adding to the political cast of the scandal.

Possible taglines for this fiasco: a) News Corp above the law, b) Too big to care, c) News Corp’s planet, or d) News Corp listens.