Did Ami Break Laws With Bezos?

In early 2019, Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man and founder of Amazon, accused American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, of attempting to blackmail and extort him. AMI allegedly threatened to publish compromising photos of Bezos and his mistress, former TV host Lauren Sanchez, if he did not drop an investigation into how the tabloid acquired his private messages and declare that the National Enquirer's coverage of him was not politically motivated. This incident has sparked a debate about the legality of AMI's actions and whether they violated any laws, with potential consequences for their previous deals with federal prosecutors.

AMI's non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors

In September 2018, American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer, entered into a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York. The agreement was made in relation to AMI's payment of $150,000 to Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model, to influence the 2016 presidential election. AMI purchased the rights to McDougal's story of an alleged affair with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump to prevent its publication and avoid influencing the election.

The non-prosecution agreement stipulated that AMI would not be prosecuted for any crimes related to its participation in the aforementioned activities, provided that AMI disclosed all relevant information to the authorities, cooperated fully with the investigation, and refrained from committing any further crimes for a period of three years. AMI also agreed to implement specific improvements to its internal compliance procedures to prevent future violations of federal campaign finance laws.

The agreement was contingent on AMI's commitment to several conditions, including complete disclosure of information, full cooperation with the investigation, attendance at meetings and interviews, provision of relevant documents, and refraining from committing any further crimes. If AMI were to violate the terms of the agreement, it would be subject to prosecution for any federal criminal violations, including perjury and obstruction of justice.

The non-prosecution agreement was reached as part of an ongoing investigation into campaign finance violations involving Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. AMI, through its CEO David Pecker, cooperated with federal prosecutors by providing information about an alleged campaign finance violation committed in conjunction with Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen. In exchange for AMI's full and truthful cooperation, the prosecutors agreed not to bring charges against the company.

The agreement specifically mentioned AMI's participation, between August 2015 and October 2016, in making a contribution and expenditure of $25,000 or more during the 2016 calendar year to the campaign of a candidate for President of the United States. AMI's actions were done in coordination with and at the request of members or agents of the candidate's campaign.

AMI acknowledged and accepted as true the facts set forth in a Statement of Facts attached to the agreement. The statement detailed AMI's involvement in purchasing the rights to McDougal's story, with the intent to suppress it and prevent it from influencing the election. AMI knew that such expenditures by corporations, made to influence an election and in coordination with a candidate's campaign, are unlawful. Despite this knowledge, AMI did not report the $150,000 payment to McDougal to the Federal Election Commission.

AMI's potential violation of New York State law

In February 2019, Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and owner of the Washington Post, accused American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent organization of the National Enquirer tabloid, of attempting to extort and blackmail him. AMI had threatened to publish compromising photos of Bezos and his mistress, former TV host Lauren Sanchez, if he did not drop an investigation into how AMI acquired his private messages and issue a false statement claiming that the National Enquirer's coverage of him was not politically motivated.

While it is unclear whether AMI broke any laws, legal experts and federal prosecutors are examining the situation to determine if AMI's interactions with Bezos constitute criminal extortion under New York State law. AMI had previously signed a non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors, agreeing to commit no crimes whatsoever for three years in exchange for immunity from prosecution over hush-money payments to women who claimed relationships with then-candidate Donald Trump.

The first element of extortion under New York State law is threatening to harm another, which AMI appears to have done by threatening to publish compromising and embarrassing material about Bezos. The second element is attempting to secure "a thing of value," which could include attempting to persuade Bezos to stop his investigation and issue a false statement claiming that the National Enquirer's coverage of him was not politically motivated. While the value of these demands may be difficult to quantify, they could still be considered things of value, as AMI has shown a clear interest in keeping this information hidden.

If AMI is found to have violated New York State extortion laws, the consequences could be severe. The non-prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors would be voided, and AMI could face prosecution for the underlying campaign finance felony and any other crimes they have committed. This could have far-reaching implications, as AMI has already confessed to committing the campaign finance felony and provided testimony and evidence as part of their cooperation agreement.

AMI's use of high-tech spyware to hack Bezos's phone

In February 2019, Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man and CEO of Amazon, published a series of emails on Medium that exposed American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of the National Enquirer tabloid, of threatening to publish compromising photos of him and his girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, unless he dropped an investigation into the tabloid's coverage of his personal life. This incident has raised questions about whether AMI engaged in illegal and unethical behaviour to obtain private information.

AMI's initial response was that it acted "lawfully" in reporting on Bezos' affair and that it was in good faith negotiations to resolve any issues with him. However, the company's reputation has been tarnished, and federal prosecutors are investigating whether AMI's actions constitute a crime, specifically extortion.

In March 2019, Gavin de Becker, a security specialist hired by Bezos, wrote an article for The Daily Beast, stating that he and his "investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos's phone and gained private information". de Becker also highlighted a potential connection between AMI and Saudi Arabia, suggesting that AMI had attempted to pressure him into declaring that their story on Bezos was not influenced by external forces.

FTI Consulting, a cybersecurity firm hired by Bezos, later concluded with "medium to high confidence" that Bezos's phone had been infiltrated by a malicious video file sent from the WhatsApp account of Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia. The video file was found to be infected with malicious code, allowing the extraction of large amounts of data from Bezos's phone, including private messages and photos. While the Saudi Arabian government has denied the allegations, the incident has raised concerns about the potential misuse of spyware technology.

While the exact spyware used in the attack remains unclear, experts believe it was likely developed by one of two notorious spyware companies: NSO Group, an Israeli company, or Hacking Team, an Italian company. Both companies have been implicated in providing spyware technology to governments with questionable human rights records. NSO Group, in particular, has been accused of marketing its products to authoritarian regimes and has faced legal action from WhatsApp over alleged abuses of its platform.

The use of high-tech spyware to hack Bezos's phone highlights the dangers of an unregulated private market for digital surveillance tools. It also raises questions about the potential vulnerability of other prominent individuals who have connections to the Crown Prince, such as Jared Kushner and Donald Trump.

AMI's demand for a false statement from Bezos

In February 2019, Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man and founder of Amazon, accused American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent organization of the National Enquirer tabloid, of extortion and blackmail. Bezos claimed that AMI had threatened to publish compromising photos of him and his mistress, former TV host Lauren Sanchez, if he did not drop an investigation into how AMI acquired his private correspondence and whether its coverage of his personal life was politically motivated.

AMI's specific demand was for Bezos to issue a false public statement affirming that he had "no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces." Bezos maintained that such a statement would be untrue, as he believed there were indeed strong leads to suspect political reasons behind AMI's actions.

In response to the accusations, AMI claimed that it had acted lawfully in its reporting of the story and that it was in good faith negotiations with Bezos to resolve all matters. AMI's CEO, David Pecker, denied any wrongdoing but agreed to investigate the claims.

The situation raised questions about the legality of AMI's actions and whether they constituted criminal extortion. Federal prosecutors examined whether AMI had broken its previous deal with prosecutors, in which it had agreed to not commit any crimes in exchange for immunity from prosecution over hush-money payments related to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

The outcome of the investigation and potential legal consequences for AMI remain to be seen. However, the incident has further tarnished the company's reputation, while Bezos has emerged as a hero of sorts for standing up to a media outlet that used unethical tactics.

AMI's links to Donald Trump

In 2018, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported that AMI admitted to paying $150,000 to Karen McDougal in concert with Trump's presidential campaign for the sole purpose of preventing damaging allegations from influencing the election. AMI also admitted to paying Dino Sajudin, a doorman at Trump Tower, $30,000 to obtain the rights to his story alleging that Trump had an affair in the 1980s that resulted in the birth of a child.

AMI's involvement with Trump also included the use of "catch-and-kill" operations, where the company would buy exclusive rights to stories that might embarrass Trump to prevent them from becoming public during his campaign. This included the story of an alleged affair between Trump and former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal, as well as allegations of an affair between Trump and Stormy Daniels.

Pecker has described himself as a close friend of Trump and supported his initial run for president in 2000. In an August 2015 meeting, Pecker offered to use the National Enquirer to catch and kill any allegations of sexual affairs against Trump.

Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, played a pivotal role in some of the payments and has pleaded guilty to related charges. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for bank fraud, tax fraud, campaign finance violations, and lying to congressional investigators.

The connections between AMI and Trump are significant, with AMI even creating false stories about Trump's political challengers during the 2016 campaign to further Trump's chances of winning. This included a story about Texas Senator Ted Cruz's father supposedly having ties to John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.

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