Murdoch’s News Corp Accused of Obstructing UK Phone-Hacking Probe
Newly released court documents reveal that former detectives involved in the 2011 Operation Weeting investigation into News Group Newspapers (NGN) phone hacking allege NGN actively obstructed the inquiry. Two detectives stated that NGN’s Will Lewis, now Washington Post CEO, could have faced arrest for perverting the course of justice due to his involvement in the deletion of millions of emails. While NGN denies wrongdoing and the Crown Prosecution Service found insufficient evidence for charges in 2015, these claims emerged during a settled phone-hacking lawsuit against NGN by Prince Harry and Tom Watson. The detectives’ accusations, however, remain a point of contention, with NGN maintaining that the email deletions were for legitimate reasons unrelated to the police investigation.
John Q. Hosedrinker