Lawyer denies blackmail

– A lawyer on Sunday denied allegations by Jeff Bezos that the National Enquirer tabloid had tried to extort and blackmail him, insisting that embarrassing photographs were obtained from a “reliable” source.

“It absolutely is not extortion and not blackmail,” Elkan Abramowitz, who represents National Enquirer parent company American Media Inc (AMI)’s chief executive David Pecker, told ABC television’s This Week.

“What happened was the story was given to the National Enquirer by a reliable source that had been giving information to the National Enquirer for seven years prior to the story.

“It was a source that was well known to both Mr Bezos and Miss [Lauren] Sanchez.”

Last month, the supermarket tabloid reported that Bezos, 55, had an extramarital affair with a former news anchor, publishing a trove of private text messages. The report appeared days after Bezos and his wife MacKenzie announced their divorce.

When asked if the Enquirer’s source was Sanchez’s brother Michael, as reported by some media outlets, Abramowitz declined to confirm.

“I can tell you it’s not Saudi Arabia, it’s not President Trump, but I cannot tell you who the source is,” he said. – AFP

New York