National Enquirer makes offer; Bezos: "No thank you, Mr.Pecker"

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Feb 4, 2009
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Forgot about that...still catching up on the story. Apparently the woman Bezos was trysting with has a Trump-supporting brother who may have had access to her phone...

Beyond creepy to look a your Sister nude, even creepier to look at your Sister with another Guys dick in the picture.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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hal2kilo

Lifer
Feb 24, 2009
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Oh boy! Gona buying a case of Pop Secret Home Style for this. This may end of being a back door to an investigation of the Saudi stuff, whether Trump's encouraging Pecker to go after to Bezos, And, oh, what about that agreement with the Mueller investigation that they were off the hook for more shit, since they cooperated with Mueller on the Cohen stuff. They were supposed to keep their noses clean for at least 3 years. Does blackmail sound like keeping your nose clean?
 

JSt0rm

Lifer
Sep 5, 2000
27,399
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I love how they think Bezos has editorial control of wapo and can stop investigations. It’s a stupid alt news talking point and they tilted into it like dummies.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
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LOLOLOLOLOLOL...."umm, hey Mr. Bezos, don't worry about this. We believe we did everything by the book, but just in case, we'll launch a full investigation into ourselves to ensure that there was no wrongdoing! Trust us...we'll get to the bottom of this!!"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts...-over-intimate-photos/?utm_term=.b2e6021e3dc3

Gotta love the spin about how the material was obtained legally. That doesn't matter if it's used for blackmail & extortion.

It would be great if the Feds stage a Cohen style raid on AMI's offices...
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
I love how they think Bezos has editorial control of wapo and can stop investigations. It’s a stupid alt news talking point and they tilted into it like dummies.

I'm confident Pecker runs his sleazy rag that way...
 

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,802
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It would be great if the Feds stage a Cohen style raid on AMI's offices...
Probably too late...if they were going to execute a raid with probable cause, they would've done it at the same time they raided Cohen's office. Perhaps they would've grabbed that safe where all the "bad stuff" about Trump is locked away. But that safe is long gone, and I'm sure AMI went into burn mode the minute the Cohen raid became public knowledge. Pecker and AMI were served with subpoenas very specific to the Karen McDougal case, and I suppose AMI cooperated, but not sure the feds ever had enough evidence for a judge to sign off on a raid.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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Probably too late...if they were going to execute a raid with probable cause, they would've done it at the same time they raided Cohen's office. Perhaps they would've grabbed that safe where all the "bad stuff" about Trump is locked away. But that safe is long gone, and I'm sure AMI went into burn mode the minute the Cohen raid became public knowledge. Pecker and AMI were served with subpoenas very specific to the Karen McDougal case, and I suppose AMI cooperated, but not sure the feds ever had enough evidence for a judge to sign off on a raid.

Remember this is Stupid Gate wouldn't surprise me at all if all that stuff was hanging out in a file somewhere.
 

interchange

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
8,015
2,845
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The investigator said it's possible a government entity got hold of the texts. There's no evidence provided. It's pure speculation at this point, and he stated there wasn't evidence Bezos' phone was hacked, so that would mean the government entity would have intercepted it en route to destination. Of course the other possibility is that the texts were obtained from Sanchez's phone. Until we have any actual evidence otherwise, imagining a Trump/Russia/Saudi attack is just conspiratory thinking. A more plausible conspiracy than most.
 

K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
45,896
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-ami-scrutinized-over-bezos-story-sources-say

Federal prosecutors are reviewing the National Enquirer’s handling of its story about Jeff Bezos’ extramarital affair to determine if the company violated an earlier cooperation deal with prosecutors, according to two people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reports.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office were provided with information about key exchanges concerning Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com Inc., who went public in a jaw-dropping public blog post Thursday night. In it, Bezos detailed exchanges with American Media Inc. and accused the company of extortion.




A an exclusive preview of the next meeting AMI has with SDNY where they tear up their immunity agreement:

jules-winnfield-2.jpg
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
The investigator said it's possible a government entity got hold of the texts. There's no evidence provided. It's pure speculation at this point, and he stated there wasn't evidence Bezos' phone was hacked, so that would mean the government entity would have intercepted it en route to destination. Of course the other possibility is that the texts were obtained from Sanchez's phone. Until we have any actual evidence otherwise, imagining a Trump/Russia/Saudi attack is just conspiratory thinking. A more plausible conspiracy than most.

Or somebody hacked cloud storage. Or, as you say, it's impossible to say at this point. One thing I'm sure of is that AMI is mighty twitchy about the WaPo investigating their connection to the Saudis. Otherwise they wouldn't have resorted to extortion.

I will be very surprised if nobody is prosecuted.
 

UNCjigga

Lifer
Dec 12, 2000
24,802
9,004
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They are a special kind of stupid.

I heard two left-leaning lawyer “talking heads” on cable news opine that it might not technically be extortion if there were no monetary demands. AMI asked to stop pursuing a private investigation (not sanctioned by law enforcement) and didn’t ask for money. Not sure if they were right but there might be a path for AMI to skate on a technicality.

The bigger question is whether SDNY has enough to subpoena AMI on the source of Bezos texts/dick picks, as they may have sanctioned a crime if they paid someone to obtain those illegally. SDNY May want to know that to determine if non prosecution agreement was breached.
 
Feb 4, 2009
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I heard two left-leaning lawyer “talking heads” on cable news opine that it might not technically be extortion if there were no monetary demands. AMI asked to stop pursuing a private investigation (not sanctioned by law enforcement) and didn’t ask for money. Not sure if they were right but there might be a path for AMI to skate on a technicality.

The bigger question is whether SDNY has enough to subpoena AMI on the source of Bezos texts/dick picks, as they may have sanctioned a crime if they paid someone to obtain those illegally. SDNY May want to know that to determine if non prosecution agreement was breached.

I read something similar, courts flip flop on stuff that doesn’t have clear value
 

cfenton

Senior member
Jul 27, 2015
277
99
101
I heard two left-leaning lawyer “talking heads” on cable news opine that it might not technically be extortion if there were no monetary demands. AMI asked to stop pursuing a private investigation (not sanctioned by law enforcement) and didn’t ask for money. Not sure if they were right but there might be a path for AMI to skate on a technicality.

The bigger question is whether SDNY has enough to subpoena AMI on the source of Bezos texts/dick picks, as they may have sanctioned a crime if they paid someone to obtain those illegally. SDNY May want to know that to determine if non prosecution agreement was breached.

Usually blackmail covers anything of value, not just money. Clearly dropping the investigation has value to AMI, otherwise they wouldn't have tried to negotiate an end to it.

Here's the relevant statute for New York (https://statelaws.findlaw.com/new-york-law/new-york-extortion-laws.html)

A person is guilty of coercion in the second degree when he or she compels or induces a person to engage in conduct which the latter has a legal right to abstain from engaging in, or to abstain from engaging in conduct in which he or she has a legal right to engage, or compels or induces a person to join a group, organization or criminal enterprise which such latter person has a right to abstain from joining, by means of instilling in him or her a fear that, if the demand is not complied with, the actor or another will:
1. Cause physical injury to a person;  or
2. Cause damage to property;  or
3. Engage in other conduct constituting a crime;  or
4. Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against him or her;  or
5. Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule;  or
6. Cause a strike, boycott or other collective labor group action injurious to some person's business;  except that such a threat shall not be deemed coercive when the act or omission compelled is for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act;  or
7. Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another's legal claim or defense;  or
8. Use or abuse his or her position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to his or her official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely;  or
9. Perform any other act which would not in itself materially benefit the actor but which is calculated to harm another person materially with respect to his or her health, safety, business, calling, career, financial condition, reputation or personal relationships.

Coercion in the second degree is a class A misdemeanor.

Condition 5 seems relevant in this case.
 

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
30,337
7,987
136
why did they think that this was a good idea?

Presumably because its worked every other time they have done it. And presumably they have done it enough times to get really complacent about it.
 

VRAMdemon

Diamond Member
Aug 16, 2012
6,447
7,616
136
Why is Trumps' favorite publisher selling Saudi propaganda? That is from last April, BTW.

But, in the end the answer is money. It is always money.

The National Enquirer (AMI) refinanced it's debt to the tune of $460 million. They raised this money from .... who exactly, it is unclear.

What if... and I'm just spitballing here... What if some friendly Saudi folks were the ones to extend the $460 million lifeline to AMI? That would certainly explain why AMI were so keen to kill any stories or investigations into the Saudi murder of a journalist. Bottom line - who is running AMI now? Who holds the money bag, and calls the shots?
 
Feb 4, 2009
34,506
15,737
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Why is Trumps' favorite publisher selling Saudi propaganda? That is from last April, BTW.

But, in the end the answer is money. It is always money.

The National Enquirer (AMI) refinanced it's debt to the tune of $460 million. They raised this money from .... who exactly, it is unclear.

What if... and I'm just spitballing here... What if some friendly Saudi folks were the ones to extend the $460 million lifeline to AMI? That would certainly explain why AMI were so keen to kill any stories or investigations into the Saudi murder of a journalist. Bottom line - who is running AMI now? Who holds the money bag, and calls the shots?

Wow interesting theory and it doesn’t require a tin foil hat.

Will all the MAGA folks start liking the Enquirer?

They already have been told to:
Ignore football
Enjoy Kanye West
Despise Harley Davidson
Despise US car makers- especially trucks