Former British prime minister Gordon Brown is demanding that the police investigate the conduct of Will Lewis, now the CEO of The Washington Post, during his tenure at Rupert Murdoch's News International.

He also insisted Lewis's then boss, Rebekah Brooks, be investigated.

"Rebekah Brooks and William Lewis were involved in the destruction of millions of emails vital to the criminal investigation into phone hacking," said Brown, according to an unusually revealing story in The Washington Post.

In addition, Brown charged that Murdoch executives who were handling the cleanup, "may have instead been engaged in a coverup."

In response, Murdoch's company, News UK, accused Brown of "relying on a one-sided and incomplete picture of the evidence" and of having enmity toward the company.

However, the revelations have put Lewis's behavior more into the light and observers wonder if this will impact his position at the Post.

Brown himself was a victim of the alleged hacking operation.

The Post story continues that Patty Stonesifer, the former interim publisher and an adviser to Post owner Jeff Bezos, claimed that she and a search firm "completed a detailed review of Will's career, background and references."

The result: "I can assure you of our deep consideration and complete alignment on Will's leadership," Stonesifer said, according to the Post.