Washington Post CEO Will Lewis is the subject of a criminal investigation into possible obstruction of justice in the U.K.
The alleged obstruction took place in 2011 when Lewis was running interference for Rupert Murdoch over a hacking scandal. The police had investigated the deletion of 30 million emails and hard drives, questioning Lewis and Paul Cheesbrough, the chief tech officer, The Guardian reports.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who reportedly was a victim of hacking, complained to the police about new disclosures and was assured that the special inquiry term was looking into them.
Among other things, Lewis allegedly accused Brown of “controlling” a plot with Tom Watson, a former MP, to obtain the emails of Rebekah Brooks, then the chief executive of News International, The Guardian continues.
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Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has thus far stuck with Lewis. But Brown questioned whether Lewis is right for the role.
“Blazoned across the top of every edition of the Washington Post is the statement, ‘Democracy dies in darkness,’ Brown wrote in an article in The Guardian. “But what if the publisher himself is a master of the dark arts?”
Lewis made no comment over the current reports, but he has denied wrongdoing.