Washington Post icon urges leadership change: "The issue is one of integrity"

• He has denied wrongdoing.

Driving the news: "I don't know a single person at the Post who thinks the current situation with the publisher and supposed new editor can stand," Maraniss wrote on Facebook late Wednesday, referring to Lewis and Robert Winnett, a British journalist who has been named to become editor this fall.

• "Jeff Bezos owns the Post but he is not of and for the Post or he would understand," Maraniss adds.
• "The issue is one of integrity not resistance to change."

In the latest blast at Lewis, The Guardian reported yesterday that he advised former prime minister Boris Johnson and senior officials at 10 Downing Street to "clean up" phones in the midst of a COVID-era political scandal.

• Spokespeople for both Lewis and Johnson told the U.K.-based paper the story is "untrue."

What they're saying: Bezos promised Tuesday in a rare email to newsroom leaders that "the journalistic standards and ethics at The Post will not change."

• "To be sure," he added, "it can't be business as usual at The Post. The world is evolving rapidly and we do need to change as a business."
• But Bezos told his editors they have his "full commitment on maintaining the quality, ethics, and standards we all believe in."

Go deeper: New Brit regime atop Washington Post aims to boost local coverage