Senate Dem reminds DOJ of previous hacking allegations against News Corp.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) wrote to the Justice Department and FBI on Wednesday to remind them of previous hacking allegations against News Corp. subsidiary News America Marketing.

Lautenberg wrote a letter in 2005 to then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales highlighting a complaint from the New Jersey marketing firm FLOORgraphics, which provided in-store advertising in competition with News America Marketing. FLOORgraphics accused News America of illegally hacking its computer system in order to obtain confidential business data.

"As the Department of Justice and FBI examine the recent hacking allegations involving News Corp. and its subsidiaries more closely, I wanted to make sure that you were fully aware of the case of FLOORgraphics and News America, as it may be relevant to your current investigation," Lautenberg wrote Wednesday.

According to the letter, the Justice Department informed the senator that as a matter of policy it couldn't confirm or deny an investigation into News America's conduct. News Corp. reportedly settled with FLOORgraphics during a 2009 trial for $29.5 million and purchased the firm a few days later.

Lautenberg was one of the first U.S. lawmakers to call for the federal government to investigate allegations that now-shuttered News Corp. subsidiary News of the World hacked the voicemails of 9/11 victims and bribed law enforcement officials. News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch told British lawmakers at a hearing on Tuesday he didn't believe his employees breached the accounts of 9/11 victims.