The publisher of the National Enquirer says it \'acted lawfully\' when reporting on Jeff Bezos\, but its board will investigate his claims of blackmail and extortion

American Media, the publisher of the National Enquirer, has released a statement saying it "acted lawfully" in its reporting on Jeff Bezos, but that its board will "investigate" his claims that its executives attempted to blackmail him by threatening to release nude photos of the Amazon CEO.

The Amazon CEO published a blog post Thursday accusing the National Enquirer of "extortion and blackmail."

"American Media believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr. Bezos," American Media said in a statement Friday morning. "Further, at the time of the recent allegations made by Mr. Bezos, it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him. Nonetheless, in light of the nature of the allegations published by Mr. Bezos, the Board has convened and determined that it should promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims. Upon completion of that investigation, the Board will take whatever appropriate action is necessary."

This story is developing...