FBI probes newspaper hackers over 9/11

The FBI has opened a probe into whether private investigators or any other employee of a now-closed London-based newspaper hacked into the phone mail of the families of 9/11 victims, according to a bureau spokesman.

"The FBI has begun an investigation into whether any hacking occurred in the United States by the News of the World," James Margolin, an FBI spokesman in New York, said Thursday.

The probe will be based at the bureau's Manhattan office.

The bureau acted Thursday after requests from several members of Congress and accounts of the possible hacking of British victims of 9/11 appeared in the British press, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

At this point, agents are only looking into whether the News of the World was involved. But the sources said the investigation could expand, if it were discovered that other publications in Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. were involved in hacking in the United States, the sources said.

Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), House Committee on Homeland Security chairman, had been among those calling for a probe. "If they do the investigation, I'll be very gratified," he said.

On Wednesday, King asked the FBI to investigate whether journalists at the News of the World tried to bribe a police officer to obtain phone records of 9/11 victims.

Relatives of victims of the terrorist attacks supported the FBI getting involved. "Fantastic," said Sally Regenhard, who lost a son, Christian Michael Otto Regenhard. "I think it's absolutely appropriate and I'm happy the government is listening."

Jim McCaffrey of Yonkers, who lost his brother-in-law, firefighter Orio Palmer of Valley Stream, said he hopes the probe is free of partisan politics. "If it is found to be true, these people should be dealt with harshly and prosecuted," he said.cable TV outlets such as Fox News Channel, and TV stations including WNYW/5 and WWOR/9.

The development comes on the heels of the shuttering Sunday of the weekly London tabloid amid allegations -- and a criminal investigation -- that its journalists routinely hacked into the voice mail accounts of newsmakers, including fallen soldiers and crime victims.