Sept. 11 families seek meeting with FBI on hacking

Relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks have asked to meet the FBI and the Justice Department to discuss the agencies' preliminary inquiry into reports that News Corp reporters may have tried to hack the phones of 9/11 victims.U.S. authorities have acknowledged they are looking into a report by Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper that reporters with the rival News of the World offered to pay a New York police officer for private phone records of some 9/11 victims.

The Mirror's report, citing an unidentified source, has yet to be independently verified but already has fueled U.S. emotions over the wider phone hacking scandal that has consumed Britain and rocked Rupert Murdoch's News Corp media empire.

New York attorney Normal Siegel, who represents September 11 family members in three legal cases, sent letters on Monday (July 18) requesting meetings with FBI Director Robert Mueller, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Representative John Conyers, the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

"We commend the FBI for opening a preliminary inquiry into this serious issue and we are requesting a meeting to ascertain the scope, goals and timetable of the inquiry," the letter to Mueller said.

Siegel has represented relatives of September 11 victims in a number of cases, including a successful attempt to force New York City to release audio tapes of phone calls to emergency responders during the disaster and a losing bid to recover traces of human remains from debris buried in a landfill. He said the letter sent on Monday (July 18) was written on behalf of about 20 families.

"The allegation is upsetting to some of the family members. What we want to point out is that we just want to get the truth. We are not at this point accusing anyone, including News Corp of any wrongdoing. But in view of the apparent hacking in the UK, the question becomes logically, whether or not any of that happened here in New York or in the United States. And so our aim is to sit down with our government agencies and find out how they are going to investigate," Siegel said.

A spokesman for the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said he could not comment on the inquiry but said the FBI's Victim Assistance Program had been in regular contact with 9/11 family matters about the probe. He added that any letter sent by representatives from the 9/11 victims will be given a response.

Rupert Murdoch and his son James apologized to the British parliament on Tuesday (July 19) over the hacking scandal that has engulfed News Corp, but when asked about the possibility of hacking around victims of the September 11 attacks, the veteran media mogul said he had seen no evidence to support the allegation.

"We have seen no evidence of that at all and as far as we know the FBI haven't (inaudible) it. If they do, we will treat it exactly the same way as we treat it here and I cannot believe it would have happened to anyone in America," Murdoch said.

The Daily Mirror report said News of the World journalists had wanted the phone numbers of the dead as well as details of the calls they had made and received in the days leading to the attacks.

Siegel urged the public not to rush to judgment about the allegations. He said he did not accuse anyone in the letter because he did not want a media frenzy to ensue until the facts were out.

"Let's be disciplined. Let's ask good questions. Let's hope we get good answers and then we can make conclusions. People who jump to conclusions, I would say to the public at this point, hold back your judgment until all the facts are in," he said.

The estates of those killed on September 11 or survivors would have grounds to sue the newspaper for damages if phones were illegally hacked, with potentially greater punitive damages possible if the hacking was found to be intentional and deliberate, Siegel said.

Even if an unsuccessful attempt was made to illegally access voice mails the paper could be liable, he said.