Source of National Enquirer Story on Bezos Affair Nailed Down

In the first piece I wrote about the extortion drama between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and American Media Inc. (AMI), the parent company of trash tabloid, The National Enquirer, there was a single, short mention of at least one potential suspect responsible for leaking Bezos’ private texts and images.

It seems now, Bezos’ investigator, Gavin de Becker, has zeroed in and feels confident that he’s got the goods on the person responsible.

The Daily Beast was able to get the scoop from several sources working inside AMI. The culprit, according to those sources, is Michael Sanchez, Trump supporter and brother of Bezos’ mistress, Maria Sanchez.

Another source who has been in extensive communication with senior leaders at AMI confirmed that Michael Sanchez first supplied Bezos’ texts to the Enquirer.

Further, an AMI attorney appeared on ABC over the weekend and tap danced around the subject.

“The story was given to the National Enquirer by a reliable source that had given information to the National Enquirer for seven years prior to this story. It was a source that was well known to both Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez,” attorney Elkan Abramowitz told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

Asked directly whether Sanchez was the source, Abramowitz said, “I can’t discuss who the source was. It’s confidential within AMI.”

And I’m sure Sanchez, as well as the top brass of AMI are sweating this one.

Previously, it was reported that upon hearing Bezos had hired an investigator to track down the source of the leaks, David Pecker, CEO of AMI and steadfast Trump pal, went “apoplectic.”

I’d say that was a valid response, given Bezos’ wealth and the power and resources available to him, because of that wealth.

Sanchez isn’t speaking either. No word on how he and his sister are getting along at family gatherings, these days.

For his part, de Becker is staying mum on the specifics of what he discovered. All he’s saying for sure is that they’ve got their man.

“Our investigation into who initially provided texts to the National Enquirer, and why it was done—that investigation is now complete. We have turned our conclusions over to our attorneys for referral to law enforcement,” de Becker told The Daily Beast on Sunday.

“Our investigation into what the National Enquirer and [publisher] AMI did after they received the initial texts—that investigation is ongoing,” he added.

In other words, it’s not just about getting the leaker. Considering that AMI attempted to intimidate Bezos, to blackmail him into stopping the investigation into their activities by threatening to reveal explicit photos sent to his mistress, I’d say there’s definitely more serious trouble on the horizon for the company.

Bezos, however, would not be intimidated.

In a post to Medium last week, he revealed the full text of the email sent by AMI Content Director Dylan Howard, to the litigation attorney for de Becker.

From: Howard, Dylan [[email protected]] (Chief Content Officer, AMI)
Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2019 3:33 PM
To: Martin Singer (litigation counsel for Mr. de Becker)
Subject:. Jeff Bezos & Ms. Lauren Sanchez Photos

CONFIDENTIAL & NOT FOR DISTRIBIUTION

Marty:

I am leaving the office for the night. I will be available on my cell — 917 XXX-XXXX.

However, in the interests of expediating this situation, and with The Washington Post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report, I wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our newsgathering.

In addition to the “below the belt selfie — otherwise colloquially known as a ‘d*ck pick’” — The Enquirer obtained a further nine images. These include:

• Mr. Bezos face selfie at what appears to be a business meeting.
• Ms. Sanchez response — a photograph of her smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene.
• A shirtless Mr. Bezos holding his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring. He’s wearing either tight black cargo pants or shorts — and his semi-erect manhood is penetrating the zipper of said garment.
• A full-length body selfie of Mr. Bezos wearing just a pair of tight black boxer-briefs or trunks, with his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring.
• A selfie of Mr. Bezos fully clothed.
• A full-length scantily-clad body shot with short trunks.
• A naked selfie in a bathroom — while wearing his wedding ring. Mr. Bezos is wearing nothing but a white towel — and the top of his pubic region can be seen.
• Ms. Sanchez wearing a plunging red neckline dress revealing her cleavage and a glimpse of her nether region.
• Ms. Sanchez wearing a two-piece red bikini with gold detail dress revealing her cleavage.

It would give no editor pleasure to send this email. I hope common sense can prevail — and quickly.

Dylan.

Does that sound like blackmail? Bezos took it that way.

Said Bezos:

Be assured, no real journalists ever propose anything like what is happening here: I will not report embarrassing information about you if you do X for me. And if you don’t do X quickly, I will report the embarrassing information.

What Bezos, as well as de Becker believe is that the root of the leaks was politically motivated, pure and simple.

Documents reviewed by The Daily Beast show that Michael Sanchez believed the Enquirer pursued its story about Bezos with “President Trump’s knowledge and appreciation”—a chase encouraged, in Sanchez’s estimation, by Republican operatives “who THINK Jeff gets up every morning and has a WaPo meeting to plot its next diabolical attack on President Trump.”

Don’t miss that part. Sanchez – the leaker – believed the hit on Bezos was done with Trump’s “knowledge and appreciation.”

In other words, a political hit job.

So what is known about Michael Sanchez, other than he is a solid Trump supporter?

It turns out he has both personal and business ties to several figures from the Trump’s cabal, such as Scotty Nell Hughes, Carter Page, and the noxious Roger Stone.

As The Daily Beast previously reported last week, documents show that Sanchez and Stone were in touch about the National Enquirer story in the days after it ran.

“I’ve never hacked anyone,” Stone told The Daily Beast, which had neither suggested or asked if he had. “I do know Michael Sanchez—very good guy.”

Imagine that.

Is there anything else?

He certainly was a reliable and public supporter of the president. “For anyone too stupid or too bitter to admit Mueller’s pack of @POTUS-hating @TheDemocrats is leading an out-of-control witch hunt, read about @jerome_corsi,” Sanchez wrote in a more-or-less typical tweet. “Muellerism = McCarthyism.”

Oh. He’s one of those.

The Washington Post had reported that Sanchez boasted of hearing from AMI staffers that the Enquirer was about to embark on a “takedown to make Trump happy.”

I guess Pecker feels he owes his old pal that much. He and Dylan Howard made a deal with prosecutors with the Southern District of New York, regarding their part in what has turned into an investigation into campaign finance law violations by the Trump campaign.

Pecker and AMI would purchase damaging stories about Trump, then bury those stories to protect him, in a move called “catch and kill.”

This was the move they made with Karen McDougal, the former Playboy model who was also Trump’s mistress, at one time.

McDougal was paid around $150,000 for her story, just as porn star Stormi Daniels was paid $130,000 a month before the 2016 election.

Because of this new information, regarding Bezos, SDNY prosecutors are examining whether Pecker and AMI violated the terms of the immunity agreement.

The attorneys Bezos has employed include famed Watergate Special Prosecutor Richard Ben-Veniste, and William Isaacson, an partner at Boies Schiller Flexner.

Seriously. Bezos is not playing with this, and you have to believe Pecker and Howard are really wondering if their loyalty to Donald Trump is worth all this.

I guess they’ll soon find out.