Bezos Set To Meet With Federal Prosecutors Over Hacking, Extortion Claims
Jeff Bezos is set to meet with federal prosecutors in New York as the U.S. attorney’s office looks into Bezos’ claims that the Saudi government was involved in the hacking of his personal cell phone,
CNN reported.
According to people familiar with the matter who spoke to CNN, the meeting could be as soon as this week. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are in the midst of negotiations with Bezos’ lawyers about gaining access to his personal electronic devices in order to review his private investigators’ claims that Bezos was hacked by the Saudi kingdom. After salacious text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez, a woman with whom he was having an affair, were published in the National Enquirer, Bezos launched his own private investigation into how the texts were obtained and leaked.
His investigators believe Saudi Arabia hacked his phone in retaliation for the Washington Post’s coverage of Saudi officials who murdered Washington Post writer Jamal Khashoggi. Bezos owns the Post.
The Southern District of New York is investigating Bezos’ claims because it wants to determine whether American Media Inc, which owns the National Enquirer, broke an agreement it reached with prosecutors last year. In exchange for admitting that it was involved in a hush money agreement involving President Trump and a former Playboy model’s alleged affair, the company agreed to not commit any more crimes for three years.
