Bezos accuses Enquirer of ‘blackmail’

WASHINGTON: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has accused the publisher of the tabloid National Enquirer, who has been described as a close friend of President Donald Trump, of trying to blackmail him over lurid photos. Bezos, the world’s richest person, owns The Washington Post, a frequent target of Trump as he assails the US media as "enemy of the people" and a source of fake news.

The Post was also one of the leading news outlets in coverage of the murder last year of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Post columnist. Trump has refused to criticize Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been widely accused of ordering the murder.

Last month Trump took aim at Bezos -- referring to him as ‘Bozo’ -- in what appeared to be an allusion to National Enquirer reporting of the billionaire’s relationship with former news anchor and entertainment reporter Lauren Sanchez.

"So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post," he tweeted.

"Hopefully the paper will soon be placed in better & more responsible hands!" The National Enquirer accessed private text messages and last month reported that Bezos had an extramarital affair with Sanchez -- a leak that led to his divorce.

On Thursday, Bezos said the tabloid’s parent company had threatened to publish intimate photographs he sent to his mistress. In a post on the online platform Medium, Bezos said Enquirer publisher American Media Inc (AMI), led by David Pecker, a friend of Trump, had threatened to publish the photos if he did not halt an investigation into the motives behind the leak.

The Enquirer had demanded that he and security consultant Gavin de Becker, who is leading the probe, publically state they had "no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces", Bezos added.