FBI Probe of Murdoch Has Dems Poised for Fox (News) Hunting

(MoneyWatch)  The FBI probe of charges News Corp. (NWS) tried to hack phones of 9/11 victims is going to start a massive Fox hunt. Rupert Murdoch is about to see the downside to having such an effective, partisan media outlet.

The phone-hacking case is already threatening to demolish News in the U.K. but until now its impact on U.S. operations was limited to blather from assorted Democratic senators. (And N.Y. Congressman Peter King, a man whose allegiance to the GOP will never stand between him and a microphone.) Today's news of the FBI getting involved changes that, giving official sanction to a previously partisan effort.

This is all the excuse the Democrats will need to use the long knives on Roger Ailes and the Fox News gang. Fox has never pretended to be anything other than a partisan hothouse, which the Dems wouldn't have minded if it hadn't been so popular. Or if they'd been able to replicate it.

Murdoch: The picture-perfect villain for Democrats
Lefties are already tripping over themselves in the rush to denounce Murdoch and company. Groups like ThinkProgress and ColorOfChange (the Internet is really killingthespacebetweenwords, btw) are just a few of the otherwise impotent liberal groups putting together protests, petitions and bake sales to show how upset they are. (On the left, this is what passes for taking action.)

News just hired the PR firm Edelman for help. The flacks better work fast and stop Rupert from giving any more interviews like the one he did in the Wall Street Journal (which he owns).

In an interview, Mr. Murdoch said News Corp. has handled the crisis "extremely well in every way possible," making just "minor mistakes."

WSJ reporters must have been breaking their fingers to avoid getting that assignment.

This is the best chance for revenge the Democrats could have asked for. It isn't just News being sleazy, it's News being sleazy to America's most sacred group: 9/11 victims. Before they got added in, the pols were stuck with asking the SEC to see if News was guilty of bribing foreign officials. (There are probably things the U.S. public cares less about. They all have something to do with colon health.)

However, if the 9/11 charges prove to be even slightly true, the Fox News demographic itself will lead the charge. This could unite Bill O'Reilly and Jon Stewart, forming a funny self-righteous juggernaut such as the U.S. has never seen before.

Even if the allegations aren't true and the blood in the water turns out to be ketchup, expect to see some prolonged grandstanding during Senate hearings. The hen house is going after Fox.

Image: Library of Congress
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