Jeff Bezos accuses the National Enquirer of 'extortion and blackmail'

Nearly a month after the National Enquirer published a story about Amazon CEO and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos' relationship with TV host Lauren Sanchez, Bezos has accused the outlet, its owner AMI and leader David Pecker of blackmail.

"Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail," he wrote in a blog post on Medium, the executive published emails they sent proposing a "completely confidential" agreement. In exchange for a promise to not publish embarrassing photos obtained from his text messages, AMI's general counsel Jon Fine asked for Bezos and his lawyer for a statement "affirming that they have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AM's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces."

As far as why the outlet would go to such lengths, with threats to release "below the belt selfie," among other images, Bezos cited his lawyer's investigation into how National Enquirer obtained the texts, as well as Pecker's reported actions on behalf of President Donald Trump and on behalf of the Saudi Government.