Saudi Arabia took data from Jeff Bezos’ phone after coverage in his newspaper, The Washington Post, on the killing of its columnist Jamal Khashoggi, the billionaire's security consultant alleged in a Daily Beast article Saturday.
Why it matters: Gavin De Becker's Daily Beast opinion piece comes after the National Enquirer reported Bezos had an affair with Lauren Sanchez. Bezos raised “extortion and blackmail" concerns over the story. "[T]he Enquirer became an enforcement arm of the Trump presidential campaign, and presidency," per the Daily Beast.
The big picture: Bezos has for 22 years worked with de Becker, the founder of a consulting and service firm for at-risk figures. De Becker promptly identified the person the Enquirer paid as a source: A man named Michael Sanchez, the brother of Lauren Sanchez, learning that the initial information came from a source other than Sanchez.
- De Becker found the Enquirer first contacted Sanchez about the affair, "not the other way around," according to the Daily Beast.
- De Becker's investigation included interviews with Enquirer owner AMI execs and sources, Middle East intelligence, cyber security experts with experience tracking Saudi spyware, current and former advisers to President Trump, and others.
- De Becker also spoke of studying the "close relationship between MBS and AMI chairman, David Pecker."
What's next: De Becker's results have been turned over to federal officials.
The latest: AMI issued a statement Sunday saying Sanchez's brother was the sole source of leaks about Bezos’ relationship.
Go deeper: Fake news fight pivots to retail
