IN HOT WATER

Federal Prosecutors Probing National Enquirer’s Jeff Bezos Story: Report

After Bezos accused AMI of extortion. Plus: Saudis deny any role in scandal.

Federal prosecutors are reviewing the National Enquirer’s story about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ affair to determine if the company violated its previous cooperation deal with prosecutors, Bloomberg News reports. Sources say prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office were “provided with information about key exchanges concerning Bezos”—who accused the National Enquirer’s parent company, American Media Inc., of extortion in a Thursday night blog post. The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office reportedly declined to comment. Spokesman for American Media Inc., Jon Hammond, told the website he had “no knowledge of anything like that.”

Bloomberg News also reported Friday that Saudi Arabian envoy Adel al-Jubeir denied the kingdom was involved with the AMI-Bezos fight. “I doubt it. We don’t have any dealings with—as far as I know, flat no,” he said, calling Bezos’ blackmail claim a “soap opera.” In his bombshell blog post, Bezos stated the “Saudi angle” of his investigation into AMI “hit a particularly sensitive nerve” and noted AMI head David Pecker’s previously reported ties to the country.

MONEY SHOT

Bezos: National Enquirer Threatened Me With a ‘D*ck Pick’

Lachlan Markay