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Sunday, February 10, 2019
Tabloid CEO’s lawyer says Enquirer didn’t extort Jeff Bezos
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleWASHINGTON — An attorney for the head of the National Enquirer’s parent company denies the tabloid committed extortion or blackmail by threatening to publish Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ explicit photos.
Elkan Abramowitz represents American Media Inc. chief executive David Pecker, who is Jewish. Abromowitz defends the tabloid’s practice as a “negotiation” in an interview Sunday with ABC’s “This Week.”
The Enquirer published a story last month that included lurid texts between Bezos and former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. Bezos said AMI later threatened to expose his revealing photos if he didn’t have his private investigators back off.
Abramowitz says the story was given to the Enquirer by a “reliable source” who was “well known” to Bezos and Sanchez.
He says he isn’t concerned about the matter jeopardizing a nonprosecution agreement between AMI and federal prosecutors.
— AP
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