The dispute over intimate private photos of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos turned so far mainly to blackmail allegations and alleged politically motivated intrigues. Now the battle of the lawyers seems to grow into a family affair.
For the nude photos and piquant text messages of the richest man in the world, of all things, the brother of his lover Lauren Sanchez is said to have stabbed the tabloid «National Enquirer». This was reported by the US news platform „The Daily Beast“ on Sunday (local time).
The news portal relies on several sources within the „Enquirer“ publisher American Media Inc (AMI). Another source outside the publisher – but with direct contact with the AMI head – has confirmed that Michael Sanchez was found guilty. He is a self-confessed supporter of Donald Trump and is close to several people from the environment of the US President.
Bezos had commissioned private investigators to track down who passed on the nude photos and text messages to the National Enquirer. The gossips and AMI boss David Pecker, Trump’s long-time confidant, accused the multi-billionaire extortion with the most evil methods. The publisher had asked him to stop private investigations into an already publicized disclosure of his private life and to declare that this publication was not „politically motivated or influenced by political forces.“ Otherwise, new material would be released below the belt.
The background is the separation of the „Washington Post“ owner from his wife MacKenzie – and his relationship with the former TV presenter Sanchez. The couple announced on January 9 that they had divorced after 25 years of marriage – hinting at extramarital „explorations in love affairs.“ According to the „Washington Post“, the „Enquirer“ Bezos had previously informed that he would publish a story about his infidelity with Sanchez. Shortly after announcing the divorce, the newspaper then made the affair public and published „slippery text messages and enthusiastic love notes“ of the two.
The recent exchange of blows on both sides is about hitherto unpublished material. But instead of surrendering to his „blackmailers,“ Bezos turned the tables on Thursday and apparently put emails sent by AMI executives on the net to bring the publisher into an explanation – despite the embarrassment it contained for himself. And he did clearly that he sees very well political motives behind the Enquirer story about his lover. AMI then announced that they would examine the allegations, but keep the reporting on Bezos but still for the law.
AMI boss Pecker’s lawyer, Elkan Abramowitz, dismissed Bezos‘ blackmail allegation on Sunday in an interview with news broadcaster ABC News. It had been about legitimate negotiations between two sides with different interests – Bezos had to prevent further stories and photo revelations, the publisher do not want to stand there as a stooge of political forces. The photos and text messages were leaked to the „Enquirer“ from a „reliable source“ with whom the newspaper had been working for seven years. Both Bezos and Lauren Sanchez would „know the person well“.
The „Washington Post“ had already directed the suspicion to the brother days ago, but rejected the request of the newspaper any responsibility. Addressed by the Daily Beast on Michael Sanchez’s role, both the publisher and the defendant himself denied the information.
According to Bezos‘ security adviser Gavin de Becker, the private investigation into who the Enquirer-informant is is now complete. The findings would be passed to the authorities, he told Daily Beast. Name or motive of the culprit did not call de Becker.
At any rate, Bezos does not lack money for private investigations: he is the founder and chairman of the US Internet giant Amazon and, according to «Forbes», currently the richest person in the world. The US magazine recently estimated its private assets at around $ 136.9 billion (€ 118.8 billion). With its critical coverage, the Washington Post, which has been bought by Bezos, repeatedly comes up with the displeasure of Trump, who persistently accuses the internationally respected newspaper of „Fake News“.
Trump’s driving man Pecker and his publisher make headlines again and again – also and especially in connection with Trump. So AMI played a central role in the Schweigegeldaffäre in connection with alleged love affairs of Trump. The „Enquirer“ is said to have repeatedly secured the rights to compromising stories in order to silence them in favor of Trump. The method is known in the US as „catch and kill“ (in German for example: „catch and destroy“).
To what a state of mind the recent headlines about Bezos have led the president is not known. In any case, the Amazon boss assumes that Trump „falsely“ considers him to be his enemy. After the affair with Lauren Sanchez became public in January, the President mocked him as the „Depp“ (Bozo) and Bezos’s „lobbyist newspaper“ as the Amazon Washington Post, which „hopefully will soon be in better hands.“
