Federal prosecutors are reviewing the National Enquirer’s conduct after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos accused the tabloid’s parent company of “extortion and blackmail,” Bloomberg News reported.
Two sources told Bloomberg News that prosecutors with the Southern District of New York are investigating how the National Enquirer handled its stories about Bezos’s extramarital affair.
{mosads}The office is probing whether American Media Inc. (AMI), the National Enquirer’s parent company, violated the terms of its cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors.
The Southern District declined to comment on the report. A spokesman for AMI did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
AMI entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the Manhattan attorney’s office in September in return for its cooperation in an investigation into alleged campaign finance violations by President Trump’s campaign.
Under the agreement, AMI can “commit no crimes whatsoever,” otherwise it will “be subject to prosecution for any federal criminal violation of which this Office has knowledge, including perjury and obstruction of justice.”
Updated at 1:18 p.m.