Jew World Order

LIVE VIDEO — News Corp. founder Rupert Murdoch testifies at the Leveson Inquiry, facing questions about phone hacking and charges that he used his powerful stable of British newspapers to influence politicians for the benefit of his business interests.

Updated 7:24 a.m. ET: LONDON – Rupert Murdoch gave evidence at a high-profile public inquiry on Wednesday, questioned about phone hacking and charges that he used his powerful British newspapers to influence politicians for the benefit of his business interests.

Watch live: Rupert Murdoch giving evidence at UK hone hacking inquiry

What began with cases of voicemail interception at one of his U.K. tabloid newspapers has turned into a critique of how the British media operates — and a deep look at the influence Murdochs’s corporation, News Corp., has had on the highest echelons of government.

Prime Minister David Cameron appointed judge Brian Leveson to examine Britain’s press standards after journalists at Murdoch’s weekly News of the World tabloid admitted hacking into phones on a massive scale to generate exclusives.

Under oath, Murdoch faced detailed scrutiny about his relationship with politicians stretching back decades. Over the coming hours, he is also expected to be asked questions over how the phone hacking came about.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and his son James are in the hot seat this week at a high-profile public inquiry in the U.K. about phone hacking by News Corp’s British newspapers. NBC’s Stephanie Gosk reports.

He began by acknowledging the role of the inquiry, saying: “There have been some abuses shown … The state of the media in this country is of absolutely vital interest to all its citizens … Frankly I welcome the opportunity because I wanted to put some myths to bed.”

Murdoch, wearing a bright blue tie, said the influence that owners have over their newspapers is often overestimated. He played down his legendary reputation as the world’s most powerful media tycoon, and denied his newspapers influenced the outcome of elections.

“I’ve never asked a prime minister for anything,” he said. “We all like to back the winning race horse. We like to be on the winning side. I’m trying to think when we didn’t. It’s certainly true the last election in America the Wall Street Journal and New York Post opposed the almost certain victory of President Obama… We work on the same principles everywhere. We try to judge the candidates on the issues.”

This is Murdoch’s second public grilling on phone hacking. The first was before parliament last July, supported by his son James and protected by his wife. This time he is alone — although his other son, Lachlan, and wife Wendi Deng were watching from a distance in the public gallery.

Hot seat

Shareholders in News Corp. will be looking very closely at what sort of performance the 81-year-old puts up. His task at the inquiry is to defend the world’s second largest media company – and, with it, his own reputation.

James Murdoch was in the hot seat Tuesday, once again blaming his subordinates for not telling him about widespread hacking soon enough.

Evidence emerged last July that suggested multiple reporters at News of the World hacked into the voicemails of celebrities, the royal family and even a murdered young girl. Those revelations convulsed Murdoch’s media empire and provoked a wave of public anger.

More than 100 lawsuits have been filed in the U.K., and a lawyer for hacking victims intends says he intends to file three more in the U.S.  Three ongoing criminal cases in Britain have resulted in a series of arrests.

Murdoch has also faced accusations of political influence, which he vehemently denies.

Leon Neal / AFP – Getty Images

News Corp chief executive Rupert Murdoch (R) and his wife Wendi Deng leave their London home on Wednesday.

He is undergoing a day and a half of questioning starting on Wednesday from prosecutor Robert Jay, who in the five months of the inquiry so far has shown little deference for the status of those he interrogates.

Questioned about his influence on the political stance of his British newspapers, Murdoch insisted he did not tell editors which party to back in elections but admitted having regular conversations with them. He said: “I’m a curious person, interested in great issues of the day, and I’m not good at holding my tongue.” 

“It is only natural for politicians to reach out to editors and sometimes proprietors, if they are available, to explain what they are doing and hoping that it makes an impression. But I was only one of several.”

Jay asked: “Are you saying that you are completely oblivious to the impact of election outcomes on your commercial interests? Murdoch replied: “Absolutely. I never let my commercial interests, whatever they are, enter into any consideration of elections.”

Asked about his political influence on the Sunday Times, he said: “I only remember talking to [former Sunday Times and Times editor Harold Evans] on policy once, when he came to me, shut the door behind him and said ‘Look, tell me what you want to say, and it needn’t leave this room but I will do it.’ And I said to him ‘Harry, that is not my job. All I would say to you’ – and this is the nearest thing I ever came to instruction – was ‘Please be consistent, don’t change sides day-by-day.’ I don’t mean political sides but on issues.” 

Leveson Inquiry / AFP – Getty Images

News Corp executive chairman James Murdoch swearing an oath holding a bible before giving evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press standards at the High Court in London on Tuesday.

In seeking to play down the extent of his political influence, Murdoch was cornered into describing one of his own newspapers’ most infamous front page headlines as “tasteless”. After the Conservatives scraped a narrow win in the 1992 general election, his tabloid title The Sun, which had backed the party, declared: ‘IT WAS THE SUN WOT WON IT’. “We don’t have that kind of influence,” Murdoch insisted, adding that he had not been happy with the headline.

Critics allege The Sun, endorsed Cameron during the 2010 election in return for support of News Corp’s deal to buy full control of broadcaster BskyB.

Murdoch was the first newspaper boss to visit Cameron after he won the election — entering via the back door — and politicians from all parties have lived in fear for decades of his newspapers and what they might reveal about their personal lives.

U.S.-based News Corp, owner of Fox Television and the Wall Street Journal, eventually pulled its bid to buy the 61 percent of satellite broadcaster BSkyB that it did not already own amid the intense political and public pressure over phone hacking.

‘Air of casual violence’

Opposition politician Chris Bryant, who accepted damages from Murdoch’s British newspaper group after the paper admitted hacking his phone, said the media mogul had dominated the political landscape for decades.

“You have only got to watch Rupert Murdoch’s staff with him to see how his air of casual violence intimidates people,” he told Reuters. “His presence in the British political scene has similarly intimidated people by offering favor to some and fear to all.”

Murdoch’s relations with prime ministers goes back decades: papers released this year showed that he held a secret meeting with then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1981 to secure his acquisition of the Times of London.

Tony Blair was godfather to one of Murdoch’s daughters, Gordon Brown was a personal friend of the Australian-born businessman and Cameron employed as his personal spokesman a former Murdoch editor who was himself implicated in the hacking scandal.

“Ever since the Sun claimed they won it in 1992 there’s been an almost pathological fear of Murdoch’s ability to influence an electorate,” Liverpool University’s political professor Jonathan Tonge told Reuters, in reference to the 1992 election. “It’s hugely unhealthy.”

Staff who have worked alongside Murdoch say he is hard to brief for such occasions and Murdoch watchers have been hugely anticipating the hearing at the Victorian gothic courtroom in London’s Royal Courts of Justice.

James Murdoch was at the Leveson inquiry on Tuesday, claiming he didn’t know about phone-hacking at News Corp’s UK newspapers. ITV’s Juliet Bremner reports.

During a parliamentary hearing last year, memorable for the actions of a protester who hit Murdoch in the face with a foam pie, he sat alongside James and spoke often in monosyllables but on occasion hit the table with his fist in frustration at the line of questioning.

Chiara Francavilla, NBC News in London, and Reuters contributed to this report.

More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:

• James Murdoch grilled in phone hacking probe
• Runner who died in London Marathon inspires $500,000 donations
• France’s election battle moves from hearts to heads
• FBI chief in Yemen, where drone recently killed top al-Qaida member
• US asks Peru to extradite van der Sloot for trial related to Natalee Holloway killing
• Sudan has declared war on us, says South Sudan president

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world