David Pecker, the publisher of the National Enquirer and CEO of American Media, Inc., brazenly attempted to blackmail Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, Inc., owner of the Washington Post (which makes him a frequent Twitter target of Donald Trump), and the wealthiest person in the world. You come for him, you better not miss.
After the National Enquirer published steamy texts between Bezos and the woman he was having an affair with, Lauren Sanchez, Bezos unleashed a team of technology experts to discover how the Enquirer had obtained the texts. Their investigation began by looking at Sanchez’s brother, Michael Sanchez, who the Daily Beast reported had ties to Roger Stone, Carter Page, and Trump surrogate Scottie Nell Hughes. Bezos and his team believe the leaked texts were a political hit job. Indeed, Bezos and his wife announced they were divorcing after the texts surfaced.
As the investigation goes on, Bezos’ top security consultant, Gavin de Becker, now believes a “government agency” might be behind the attack. Washington Post reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia appeared on MSNBC’s Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell to drop this bombshell of a story. Take a listen.
To be clear, they do not name any U.S. agencies; this could very well be bad actors for a foreign nation—Russia and China are in the business of hacking. But would they have targeted an enemy of Donald Trump for the purpose of helping Donald Trump? Because he was pretty pleased when the steamy texts made front page news and ended Bezos’ marriage.
Stay tuned. This story is just getting started.