Chaos is Job Won

Washington Post CEO Will Lewis is now being sued by Prince Harry and numerous UK MPs for his role in the phone hacking scandal.

They are alleging that he lied to police to justify deleting millions of emails that would have implicated him and his bosses in directing the the hacking the voice mails of politicians, celebrities, and a murdered little girl:

Attorneys for Prince Harry and prominent U.K. politicians Monday accused Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis of concocting a story 13 years ago to shield evidence from police of possible crimes at Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids.

In court, the lawyers submitted a statement arguing that Lewis “fabricated a fake security threat” in January 2011 to justify the deletion of millions of emails dating from the start of 2008 through the end of 2010 — an act that those suing the company suggest is part of a wider coverup.

The Murdoch newspaper company, now called News UK, denies those claims. Lewis has broadly denied any wrongdoing but declined to comment to NPR Monday.

The Murdochs have paid more than $1.5 billion to settle scores of lawsuits since a simmering scandal over phone hacking erupted into a full-fledged crisis in the summer of 2011.

The people targeted by the tabloids include crime victims, sports figures, celebrities, royals and politicians — some of whom are now alleging the Murdoch enterprise invaded their privacy not only in pursuit of headlines, but as part of corporate espionage. News UK denies this, noting it is an allegation made in pursuit of their lawsuits against the company. Lewis is not a defendant in the cases.

………

In July 2011, when police first learned of the deleted emails, Lewis explained that Murdoch’s company was compelled to get rid of them because of a tip that he and a senior executive received nearly six months earlier: an “outside source” told them that former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was conspiring with a News UK employee and another person to steal the emails of the CEO. That unnamed person was said to be Tom Watson, then a leading member of parliament and critic of the Murdochs. The IT person was later alleged to have been a former News UK staffer. 

………

Lewis joined News UK in September 2010. Early the next year, he became one of a few company executives charged with handling the escalating scandal over its tabloids’ breaking into mobile voicemails and otherwise illegally acquiring the confidential records of the subjects of their reporting.

As the investigative journalist Nick Davies has written, Murdoch met with Brooks in London during the day of Jan. 24. That evening, News UK’s chief tech officer, Paul Cheesbrough, sent the email to Brooks saying that he and Lewis had just been told of the ostensible scheme involving Brown that very day. Lewis was copied on the email, which was presented in court Monday.

He's dirty as hell, and he is still running, and running into the ground, the Washington Post, because Jeff Bezos, wants a corporate criminal minion to do his bidding. 

Here's hoping that Lewis ends up frog marched out of his offices in handcuffs.