It was not the first time that the Washington Post publisher tried to kill a story

Will Lewis, the New Editor of the Washington Post, Covered Murdoch Phenomenology with Murdoch in the Wild: The Case against Buzbee

The Washington Post has written twice this spring about allegations that have cropped up in British court proceedings involving its new publisher and CEO, Will Lewis. Lewis pushed the newsroom chief not to run the story.

The stories were covered by three reporters from the three desks that Managing Editor Matea Gold put together. Lewis did nothing to stop the story from running. He announced Buzbee’s departure on Sunday night, about three-and-a-half weeks after the longer story was published.

It is not the first time that Lewis has engaged in intense efforts to head off coverage about him in ways that many U.S. journalists would consider deeply inappropriate.

In December, I wrote the first comprehensive piece based on new documents cited in a London courtroom alleging that Lewis had helped cover up a scandal involving widespread criminal practices at media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s British tabloids. (Lewis has previously denied the allegations.)

In December, the spokesman from the U.K. who has advised Lewis since his days at the Wall Street Journal told me that Lewis would get the interview if he dropped the story.

The Murdoch Media Empire Revisited: Why George W. Lewis and the Wall Street Journal Didn’t Report Patterson’s Affair with the Murdochs

When the late former Post managing editor Eugene Patterson was publisher of the St. Petersburg Times, he insisted the newspaper report his arrest for driving under the influence of alcohol on the front page. NPR has reported on the issues of its own leaders.

Lewis decided to rejoin Murdoch’s media empire. The Wall Street Journal is owned by the Murdochs.

The two journalists at the Telegraph paid a source to build a database detailing the inappropriate expenses of British lawmakers. It was a huge story, which led to the resignations and reforms. But it violated a key component of major U.S. news outlets’ ethics codes against paying sources.

Their tabloids were accused of committing crimes on a large scale, including hacking into both celebrities and private citizens’ phones. The scandal erupted into public view in 2011 when it became clear that the targets of the hacking included the victims of violent crime and veterans killed in combat.

Instead, attorneys for Prince Harry, Hollywood star Hugh Grant and several former British government officials allege that Lewis stood at the center of an effort to cover up company executives’ knowledge of those practices. Lewis is accused of giving the company the green light to destroy millions of emails after authorities had asked for the company to retain records for their investigation.

Lewis declined further comment, but denied all wrongdoing. He was not named in any civil claims and has not been charged with a crime. His actions remain in dispute as part of ongoing cases involving Harry and others.

The Murdoch media empire has paid an estimated 1.5 billion dollars in settlements and costs related to the hacking scandal. Chris Huhne had scandals that were extensively covered by the tabloids and it made a six-figure payment to him. Grant said he accepted it for an enormous amount of money and not to pay much in legal fees.