Jeff Bezos’ investigator claims Saudi Arabia is behind leaks of the Amazon AMZN, +0.41% chief executive’s steamy sexts to the National Enquirer.
In an op-ed for the Daily Beast published Saturday, Bezos’ head of security Gavin De Becker wrote that the Saudis were “intent” on hurting the Washington Post owner since last October, when the paper began covering the murder of its journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone, and gained private information. As of today, it is unclear to what degree, if any, AMI was aware of the details,” Becker wrote, referring to American Media Inc., the National Enquirer’s parent company.
Although Michael Sanchez, the brother of Lauren Sanchez, who was in a relationship with Bezos, admitted to helping leak the news about the affair, De Becker argued that’s not the true “reality.”
Michael previously told Page Six that when the tabloid contacted him back in July they had already seen text exchanges between the secret couple, leading De Becker to conclude that “the initial information came from other channels — another source or method.”
De Becker, who has worked for Bezos for over 22 years, said he used a “broad array of resources” such as interviews with current and former AMI execs and sources and discussions with cybersecurity and Middle East experts.
As part of his investigations, De Becker also said he studied the “well-documented and close relationship” between AMI CEO David Pecker and Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman — who U.S. intelligence officials concluded was behind Khashoggi’s killing.
When the Post started to cover the murder, “the Saudi government unleashed its cyberarmy on Bezos,” De Becker wrote.
In a Medium.com post in February, Bezos wrote that he was threatened with “extortion and blackmail by AMI. “They said they had more of my text messages and photos that they would publish if we didn’t stop our investigation,” he wrote, choosing to confront the tabloid’s bluff.
“The tabloid and its chairman have evolved into secretly entangling with a nation-state that’s using its enormous resources to harm American citizens and companies. And now they’ve evolved into trying to strong-arm an American citizen whom that country’s leadership wanted harmed, compromised, and silenced,” De Becker wrote.
As for the Saudis, it’s clear they consider, “the Washington Post to be a major enemy,” he added. “Saudi Arabia is hardly the first repressive regime that seeks total control of the news media in its own country. Wanting to control the media in the United States — and using any means to do so — will hopefully prove to be an overreach.”
This report originally appeared on NYPost.com.
