Back to Bezos (reup) by Josh Marshall

Back to Bezos Editor’s Blog – Talking Points Memo / by Josh Marshall / 2h

From what I can tell we still don’t know much more about the Bezos/AMI story than we did when he published his post last back on Thursday.

But I wanted to flag a few points that seem relevant.

Let’s set aside the after-the-fact extortion attempt and focus on how and why the Enquirer published the original story.

A number of people have pointed out that we’re really relying almost entirely on Bezos for the suggestion that there’s a political motive for this reporting and specifically a Saudi connection.

Nor does Bezos tell us anything specific about why he believes this is true.

Did his private investigator just see that AMI has sought investment from Saudi sources and put this idea into his head?

Let’s add to this that David Pecker’s lawyer says the source is a long-time source of the Enquirer’s and is “a source that was well-known to both Mr. Bezos and Ms. Sanchez.” That and other things he said sound like he’s suggesting that it’s Lauren Sanchez’s brother, Michael Sanchez, who is also a big Trump supporter.

I don’t put much stock in anything coming from Pecker, the Enquirer or either of their lawyers.

But it’s worth noting that that is what he claims.

So what about Bezos’ and the Saudis.

It is definitely worth noting that we really only have Bezos’ suggestion, and that without specifics, for a Saudi connection to this story.

But I doubt Bezos would so clearly point in this direction based on nothing.

Note that he only passingly pointed in Trump’s direction.

He mainly pointed toward the Saudis.

Bezos isn’t a fool and he’s clearly all-in here, going as far as outing himself about this compromising or embarrassing photos, even if we haven’t and may never see them.

He’s risked a lot of public reputation on this gambit, to put it mildly.

I don’t think he would point in such a direction based on nothing because that risks the whole thing blowing up in his face and embarrassing him further.

For now we have to wait till Bezos or his investigators come up with more or to see if some more information is generated by the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, where Pecker and AMI have their non-prosecution agreement.