Phone hacking: Murdoch paid US anti-bribery law lobbyists

$1m donation to US Chamber of Commerce in spotlight amid calls for prosecution of News Corp in America, where it is based

Ed Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 14 July 2011 18.11 BST

Rupert Murdoch donated $1m to a pro-business lobby in the US months before the group launched a high-profile campaign to alter the anti-bribery law – the same law that could potentially be brought to bear against News Corporation over the phone-hacking scandal.

News Corporation contributed $1m to the US Chamber of Commerce last summer. In October the chamber put forward a six-point programme for amending the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, a law that punishes US-based companies for engaging in the bribery of foreign officials.