Trump ally’s tabloid faces new legal woes after Bezos’ claim
AP | Feb 10, 2019, 06:24 ISTNEW YORK: The National Enquirer's alleged attempt to blackmail Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos with intimate photos could get the tabloid's parent company and top editors in legal trouble and reopen them to prosecution for paying hush money to a Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with Donald Trump.
Federal prosecutors are looking at whether the Enquirer's feud with Bezos violated a cooperation and non-prosecution deal that recently spared the gossip sheet from charges in the hush-money case, two people familiar with the matter told said on Friday.
The clash between the world's richest man and US' most aggressive tabloid spilled into public view on Thursday when Bezos accused it of threatening to print photos of him and the woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
He said the Enquirer made two demands: Stop investigating how the publication recently obtained private messages that Bezos and his girlfriend had exchanged. And publicly declare that the Enquirer's coverage of Bezos was not politically motivated.
American Media Inc, which owns the Enquirer, said that its board of directors ordered a prompt and thorough investigation and will take "whatever appropriate action is necessary". Earlier, the company said it "acted lawfully" while reporting the story and engaged in "good-faith negotiations" with Bezos.
In recent months, the Trump-friendly tabloid acknowledged secretly assisting Trump's White House campaign by paying $150,000 to Playboy centrefold Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. The company then buried the story until after the 2016 election.
Federal prosecutors considered the payment an illegal corporate contribution to Trump's campaign. In September, though, AMI reached an agreement with federal authorities that spared it from prosecution. It promised in the agreement not to break any laws. The deal also required the continuing cooperation of top AMI executives, including CEO David Pecker and Enquirer editor Dylan Howard. Now, prosecutors in New York are looking at whether AMI violated those terms, the people familiar with the matter said.
A violation of the agreement could lead to criminal charges over the McDougal payments. The Enquirer and top executives could also be subject to state and federal extortion and coercion charges and prosecution under New York City' s revenge porn law, passed last year, which bans even the threat of sharing intimate photographs, legal experts said. The US attorney's office in Manhattan declined to comment.
Federal prosecutors are looking at whether the Enquirer's feud with Bezos violated a cooperation and non-prosecution deal that recently spared the gossip sheet from charges in the hush-money case, two people familiar with the matter told said on Friday.
The clash between the world's richest man and US' most aggressive tabloid spilled into public view on Thursday when Bezos accused it of threatening to print photos of him and the woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
He said the Enquirer made two demands: Stop investigating how the publication recently obtained private messages that Bezos and his girlfriend had exchanged. And publicly declare that the Enquirer's coverage of Bezos was not politically motivated.
American Media Inc, which owns the Enquirer, said that its board of directors ordered a prompt and thorough investigation and will take "whatever appropriate action is necessary". Earlier, the company said it "acted lawfully" while reporting the story and engaged in "good-faith negotiations" with Bezos.
In recent months, the Trump-friendly tabloid acknowledged secretly assisting Trump's White House campaign by paying $150,000 to Playboy centrefold Karen McDougal for the rights to her story about an alleged affair with Trump. The company then buried the story until after the 2016 election.
Federal prosecutors considered the payment an illegal corporate contribution to Trump's campaign. In September, though, AMI reached an agreement with federal authorities that spared it from prosecution. It promised in the agreement not to break any laws. The deal also required the continuing cooperation of top AMI executives, including CEO David Pecker and Enquirer editor Dylan Howard. Now, prosecutors in New York are looking at whether AMI violated those terms, the people familiar with the matter said.
A violation of the agreement could lead to criminal charges over the McDougal payments. The Enquirer and top executives could also be subject to state and federal extortion and coercion charges and prosecution under New York City' s revenge porn law, passed last year, which bans even the threat of sharing intimate photographs, legal experts said. The US attorney's office in Manhattan declined to comment.
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