National Enquirer owner defends reporting on Amazon's Bezos

[rooster59]

National Enquirer owner defends reporting on Amazon's Bezos

By Nathan Layne

 

FILE PHOTO: Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin and CEO of Amazon, speaks about the future plans of Blue Origin during an address to attendees at Access Intelligence's SATELLITE 2017 conference in Washington, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The owner of U.S. tabloid newspaper the National Enquirer pushed back on Friday against accusations of "extortion and blackmail" from Amazon.com Inc Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, saying its reporting on an extramarital relationship involving the world's richest man was lawful and it would investigate his claims.

 

Bezos on Thursday accused American Media Inc (AMI) of trying to blackmail him with the threat of publishing "intimate photos" he allegedly sent to his girlfriend unless he said in public that the American supermarket tabloid's reporting on him was not politically motivated.

 

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan is reviewing whether the alleged extortion violated a non-prosecution agreement, a person familiar with the matter said, confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News.

 

AMI signed the agreement with federal prosecutors last year in connection with a $150,000 hush-money payment to a former Playboy model who claims she had an affair with U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump denies the affair.

 

The agreement can be voided if AMI commits any crimes. If the agreement is nullified, AMI or its executives could face prosecution for the hush payment and its conduct with Bezos, legal experts said.

 

AMI and its CEO David Pecker have had close links to Trump, who has attacked Bezos, Amazon and the newspaper he owns privately, the Washington Post, on Twitter.

 

"American Media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos," the company said in a statement.

 

Bezos and his wife announced last month that they were divorcing after 25 years of marriage. That same day, the National Enquirer touted it was publishing alleged intimate text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a former television anchor whom he was said to be dating.

 

Bezos opened an investigation into how the messages could have ended up in the hands of the tabloid, led by longtime security consultant Gavin de Becker. De Becker told media that the leak was politically motivated.

 

'POLITICALLY MOTIVATED'

 

In a blog post on Thursday, Bezos cited an email from AMI deputy general counsel, Jon Fine, to a lawyer representing de Becker. In it, AMI proposed a public acknowledgment from Bezos and de Becker that "they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that (AMI's) coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces."

 

In return for such an acknowledgment, according to the email, AMI offered "not to publish, distribute, share, or describe unpublished texts and photos," Bezos said.

 

Bezos said the statement AMI was proposing was false and described the offer as an "extortionate proposal."

 

Bezos, Fine, and de Becker were not immediately available for comment. Amazon declined to comment. Shares of the world's largest online retailer were down 1.8 percent at $1,584.74.

 

Extortion typically involves an effort to obtain property, services, money or some other benefit by threatening violence, reputational harm or other injury, although definitions can vary across state and federal laws.

 

In Florida, where American Media is based, extortion includes maliciously threatening targets with disgrace, or to expose their secrets. In Washington state, where Amazon is based, it includes threatening to expose secrets that may subject targets to hatred, contempt or ridicule, or reveal information that the targets wanted to conceal.

 

Federal law defines extortion as someone seeking or actually obtaining "property" through the "wrongful use" of actual or threatened force, violence or fear. "Property" can be something of value not limited to a tangible object or money.

 

Elie Honig, a former prosecutor, argued in a column on CNN that the actions alleged by Bezos amounted to extortion because the act of stopping Bezos' investigation was of value to AMI and AMI's threat of exposing lurid photos met the "wrongful" test.

 

But criminal defense lawyer Page Pate said what AMI sought to gain from Bezos was "too fuzzy" and would not be enough to put them in violation of the non-prosecution deal.

 

"I don't think there is a clear enough hook to show that what they wanted from Bezos was a thing of value," Pate said.

 

On Friday, AMI said that at the time of Bezos' allegations it was "in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him."

 

"In light of the nature of the allegations published by Mr. Bezos, the Board has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims. Upon completion of that investigation, the Board will take whatever appropriate action is necessary," it added.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-02-09

 

 

[Samui Bodoh]

I have mixed feelings about Bezos and Amazon, but I support anyone who follows the

 

"Publish and Be Damned"

 

school of thought. By the way, National Enquirer, is it really wise to piss off a guy worth over a hundred billion dollars? And, please do not tell me that you did it for 'journalistic integrity'; you are the people who published the "Bat Boy" stories.

 

I encourage members to investigate the "Bat Boy" chronicles; I guarantee you'll have a laugh...

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Boy_(character)

 

 

 

[metisdead]

A troll post has been removed. 

[Tug]

Blackmail is illeagle it’s a felony hope they can prove it then mr pecker can go to jail 

[neeray]

Pecker was once a pal of Mr Trump. They both employ bullying tactics and like to skirt on the edge of legalities.

It will be revealing to know how Pecker got the "pecker" pictures.

[Scott]

Troll post and replies removed. 

 

[bendejo]

Maybe Bezos will do a hostile takeover of AMI, offer Pecker a ridiculous amount he couldn't possibly refuse to stay on, and then force him to do things to betray all he has.

 

This isn't just civil suit stuff, folks, we're talking crime.

 

 

[mtls2005]

The National Enquirer "politically motivated"? Surely not.

 

 

 

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, bendejo said:

Maybe Bezos will do a hostile takeover of AMI, offer Pecker a ridiculous amount he couldn't possibly refuse to stay on, and then force him to do things to betray all he has.

 

This isn't just civil suit stuff, folks, we're talking crime.

 

 

This I not simply a standalone issue for Pecker and AMI.

 

He and AMI are under a plea bargain agreement with the FBI.

 

If this attempt at blackmail breaks the terms of that plea bargain, every single crime for which Pecker and AMI confessed in their plea bargain becomes indictable.

 

Pecker is going to spend the rest of his life in the slammer.

 

AMI stocks are heading for the trash can.

 

 

[bendejo]

On 2/8/2019 at 2:58 PM, Samui Bodoh said:

By the way, National Enquirer, is it really wise to piss off a guy worth over a hundred billion dollars? And, please do not tell me that you did it for 'journalistic integrity'; you are the people who published the "Bat Boy" stories.

During the 1992 campaign there was all this stuff in the trash rags about "the alien."  I only saw this stuff at the cashier in the supermarket, but the headlines sounded like it was an ongoing coverage thing.  I couldn't believe anyone actually believed it.  Then came the time Fox News had to tell their viewers explicitly that there was no zombie apocalypse. 

 

When I was a kid The Enquirer (as people called it) was about bizarre and unbelievable crap, like a woman giving birth to a giant fly.  It was maybe in the 1970s that it became about celebrity gossip.  How long has it been about politics?  My guess would be the 2008 campaign (I was out of the country at the time.)

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

No defence necessary as long as it was true. In a world where every possible attack is made on Trump for the slightest whiff of scandal, true or not, no exception should be made for someone just because he is rich.

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No defence necessary as long as it was true.

 

Uhm, not exactly. And I understand if you can't comprehend that as it is a bit complicated.

 

Two simple points:

 

If AMI broke the law gaining information then that would not be a valid defense.

 

AMI was in the midst of a three-year agreement with the DoJ/SDNY in which they pledged not to break the law, again.

 

So it's easy to see why the AMI board will be conducting their own investigation, as will the SDNY.

 

 

I don't think anyone is questioning that legitmate news organizations, using legal means, should be restricted from reporting news about anyone, including the president or Mr. Bezos. Why the National Enquirer "readership" would have an interest in Mr. Bezos remains mystifying to me, unless he's also Bigfoot? OK, it's not that mystifying, but why Mr. Pecker would expose himself to such a legal quandary is curious. It's starting to smell like an "enemies list" again.

 

 

 

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No defence necessary as long as it was true. In a world where every possible attack is made on Trump for the slightest whiff of scandal, true or not, no exception should be made for someone just because he is rich.

It’s not the information or threat to publish the information that is a crime.

 

It is the threat to publish if Bezos does not conform to Pecker’s demands.

 

Extortion.

 

The good news, SDNY are on it.