London Mayor in News Corp. Probe

London Mayor Boris Johnson allegedly pursued commercial negotiations with News International even as Scotland Yard investigated reported phone hackings at Rupert Murdoch’s news empire, the BBC reported Monday. Further, as mayor of London, Johnson is responsible for Scotland Yard, whose chief and deputy chief both resigned after being smeared in the investigation into alleged payments to police in an attempt to cover the alleged hacking. In meetings with James Murdoch, Johnson reportedly pressed the former News Corp. chairman for support of a cable car the mayor had planned, as well as for a proposed academy in the city, the BBC reports.