UK journalist Winnett will not join Washington Post as editor, staff memo says

British journalist Robert Winnett will not be joining the Washington Post as its editor, an internal memo seen by Reuters showed, following media reports that he used unethical methods to obtain information while working with the Sunday Times.

Post publisher Will Lewis had named Winnett, a former colleague who serves as deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph, to the role earlier this month after the exit of Sally Buzbee, the first woman to lead the storied newsroom. The reversal means Winnett will remain at the Daily Telegraph, which he joined in 2007.

"It is with regret that I share with you that Robert Winnett has withdrawn from the position of Editor at The Washington Post," Lewis said in the memo on Friday.

The New York Times reported last Saturday that Lewis and Winnett used fraudulently obtained records in articles at London's Sunday Times newspaper. On Sunday, the Post published a report detailing Winnett's ties to John Ford, who has admitted to using illegal methods to gain information for stories.