The Saudi connection: Was Enquirer blackmail of Jeff Bezos meant to protect Crown Prince Mohammed?

In Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' extraordinary letter revealing the National Enquirer’s apparent attempt to blackmail him, one detail has led to intense speculation: Bezos linked the effort to the tabloid paper's ties to the Saudi Arabian government. Bezos wrote in a Medium post that American Media, the parent company of the Enquirer, threatened to publish nude photos and details of his affair with former news anchor Lauren Sanchez unless he made a statement saying he had “no knowledge” that the Enquirer's coverage of his affair was “politically motivated or influenced by political forces.” Bezos noted that David Pecker, the head of AMI and a longtime associate of President Trump, “recently entered into an immunity deal with the Department of Justice related to their role in the so-called ‘Catch and Kill’ process on behalf of President Trump and his election campaign.” AMI bought the story of former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s alleged affair with Trump and killed the story before the election, the company admitted. Bezos cited a New York Times report revealing that Trump “rewarded” Pecker’s loyalty by inviting him to a White House dinner with a guest linked to the royal family in Saudi Arabia, where Pecker was pursuing business opportunities. Bezos’ revelations came on the same day that the Times reported that the Saudi prince told a top aide in 2017 that he would use a “bullet’ on Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post journalist murdered last October, according to American intelligence intercepts. According to the report, he met on a yacht with Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith to discuss “an international media empire to combat the kingdom’s rivals and remake its image in the West.” Bezos wrote that an AMI “leader” told his team that Pecker was “apoplectic” about the investigation Bezos launched into texts and images that were stolen from his phone.