SUBPOENA WAS DROPPED. IF YOU THINK THE NEWS COULD NOT
GET ANY STRANGER, I’M GOING TO
BLOW YOUR MIND.
IN ONE CORNER, YOU’VE GOT JEFF
BEZOS THE FOUNDER OF AMAZON AND
THE RICHEST MAN IN MODERN
HISTORY.
HISTORY. IN THE OTHER CORNER, YOU’VE GOT
DAVID PECKER, THE HEAD OF
AMERICAN MEDIA AND THE "NATIONAL
ENQUIRER" WHO’S A CLOSE FRIEND
FOR DECADES OF PRESIDENT TRUMP.
IN THE MIDDLE, YOU’VE GOT
THREATS OF BLACKMAIL, EXTORTION
AND HINTS THAT THE WHOLE THING
WAS VERY POLITICALLY MOTIVATED.
I HAVE A GREAT TEAM HERE TO
BREAK ALL OF IT DOWN, BUT FIRST,
I MUST EXPLAIN WHAT THIS IS ALL
ABOUT.
ABOUT. IT STARTED LAST MONTH WHEN THE
"NATIONAL ENQUIRER" PUBLISHED A
HUGE FRONT PAGE STORY ABOUT
BEZOS’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH A
FORMER TV ANCHOR NAMED LAUREN
SANCHEZ.
SANCHEZ. THE ENQUIRER" CALLED IT THE
BIGGEST INVESTIGATION IN ITS
HISTORY PUBLISHING PHOTOS OF THE
TWO AS WELL AS PRIVATE TEXT
MESSAGES.
MESSAGES. BEZOS RESPONDED BY LAUNCHING HIS
OWN INVESTIGATION TO FIND OUT
HOW THE TABLOID AND ITS PARENT
COMPANY AMI GOT ITS HANDS ON
THOSE VERY TEXT MESSAGES.
AND THAT’S WHERE THE STORY GETS
CRAZY.
CRAZY. AN EXTRAORDINARY POST BEZOS
PUBLISHED MEDIUM THAT WHEN WORD
GOT OUT ABOUT THE INVESTIGATION
BACK TO AMI CHAIRMAN DAVID
PECKER, PECKER WAS FURIOUS AND
JUST A FEW DAYS LATER, BEZOS
SAYS AMI APPROACHED HIM WITH AN
OFFER.
OFFER. THEY TOLD HIM THEY DID NOT JUST
HAVE HIS TEXTS, THEY ALSO HAD
EXPLICIT SEXUAL PHOTOS OF BEZOS
AND SANCHEZ.
AND SANCHEZ. AMI SAID THEY WOULD PUBLISH
THOSE PHOTOS IF BEZOS DID NOT
MEET THEIR DEMANDS.
IF YOU SAID THAT SOUNDS LIKE
EXTORTION AND BLACKMAIL, YOU’RE
NOT ALONE.
NOT ALONE. BUT INSTEAD OF BACKING DOWN THE
AMAZON CEO DID SOMETHING VERY
SURPRISING.
SURPRISING. HE CALLED THEIR BLUFF.
HE EXPLAINED, QUOTE, OF COURSE I
DON’T WANT PERSONAL PHOTOS
PUBLISHED, BUT I ALSO WON’T
PARTICIPATE IN THEIR WELL-KNOWN
PRACTICE OF BLACKMAIL, POLITICAL
FAVORS AND POLITICAL ATTACKS AND
CORRUPTION.
CORRUPTION. I PREFER TO STAND UP, ROLL THIS
LOG OVER AND SEE WHAT CRAWLS
OUT.
OUT. THAT’S SOME HOT FIRE RIGHT
THERE.
THERE. BEZOS RELEASED EMAILS HE SAYS HE
AND HIS LEGAL TEAM EXCHANGED
WITH AMERICAN MEDIA TO SHOW THE,
QUOTE, PRECISE DETAILS OF THEIR
PROPOSAL.
PROPOSAL. THEY APPEAR TO SHOW AMI
DESCRIBING WHAT THEY HAD AND
WHAT THEY WANTED.
NUMBER ONE, THEY WANTED BEZOS TO
STOP HIS INVESTIGATION.
IN AN EMAIL ADDRESSED FROM AMI’S
DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL JOHN
FINE, THE COMPANY ALSO DEMANDED,
QUOTE, A PUBLIC MUTUALLY AGREED
UPON ACKNOWLEDGEMENT FROM THE
BEZOS PARTIES RELEASED THROUGH A
MUTUALLY AGREEABLE NEWS OUTLET
AFFIRMING THEY HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE
OR BASIS FOR SUGGESTING THAT
AMERICAN MEDIA’S COVERAGE WAS
POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR
INFLUENCED BY POLITICAL FORCES
AND AN AGREEMENT THAT THEY WILL
CEASE REFERRING TO SUCH
POSSIBILITY IN THE FUTURE.
THAT’S A WOW.
BEZOS SAYS HE WOULD NOT MAKE
THAT PUBLIC STATEMENT BECAUSE HE
SAYS IT WOULD BE A LIE.
WE SHOULD NOTE THAT WE REACHED
OUT TO AMERICAN MEDIA BUT A
SPOKESMAN DECLINED TO COMMENT.
AMI HAS DENIED THAT IT IS
REPORTING THAT ITS REPORTING IS
INFLUENCED BY POLITICS, WE KNOW
THE "NATIONAL ENQUIRER" HAS A
LONG HISTORY OF PUBLISHING
STORIES BENEFICIAL TO PRESIDENT
TRUMP AND WE KNOW THAT CEO DAVID
PECKER AND THE PRESIDENT HAVE
BEEN FRIENDS FOR YEARS AS HAS
JARED KUSHNER AND DAVID PECKER.
WE ALSO KNOW THAT PRESIDENT
TRUMP IS NO FAN OF BEZOS AND HAS
REPEATEDLY CRITICIZED "THE
WASHINGTON POST" WHICH BEZOS
BOUGHT SIX YEARS AGO.
WE HAVE NO EVIDENCE THAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS INVOLVED IN ANY OF
THIS, BUT IT’S CERTAINLY RAISING
A WHOLE LOT OF QUESTIONS.
AS FOR BEZOS, MANY ARE GIVING
HIM SERIOUS CREDIT FOR STANDING
UP TO AMIs THREATS EVEN AT THE
RISK OF HIS OWN PERSONAL
HUMILIATION.
HUMILIATION. AS THE CEO WROTE ON THURSDAY,