The Wall Street Journal reports that the National Enquirer's publisher paid $200,000 US to obtain intimate texts between Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his mistress Lauren Sanchez. American Media Inc., the supermarket tabloid's publisher, reportedly paid that sum to Michael Sanchez, Lauren's brother. The Journal's finding, attributed to people familiar with the matter, parallels the conclusion reached by private investigators working for Bezos as of early February. Those investigators reportedly found that Michael Sanchez had leaked the texts to the Enquirer, although they didn't appear to conclude who might have paid for them. He publicly detailed his interactions with American Media Inc. in a blog post after the report, accusing the media outlet of extortion.

Source: CBC News March 19, 2019 15:33 UTC