Being rich and famous has its perks.
Less than one day after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos wrote a blog post claiming that the National Enquirer blackmailed him over intimate pictures he sent to his mistress, Bloomberg reported Friday and AP later confirmed that federal prosectors are looking into the case.
According to Bloomberg, prosecutors in the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office have obtained communications concerning Bezos.
Prosecutors are specifically looking to see if AMI (the parent company of the National Enquirer) broke an agreement not to engage in criminal conduct, a deal the company reached previously to dodge prosecution for its part in silencing the story of Karen McDougal, who allegedly had an affair with President Donald Trump.
That deal to kill McDougal’s story was brokered by Michael Cohen, who was recently sentenced to three years in prison for lying to Congress, among other crimes. AMI had to make concessions to avoid legal action, like admitting that it paid McDougal $150,000 specifically to suppress her story and help Trump win the 2016 election.
Bezos’ private investigators have already been investigating the alleged extortion, suspecting that a “government entity” is behind the leaked photos, while AMI is launching an internal probe.
