Saudi Arabia denies involvement in National Enquirer Jeff Bezos report

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Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos provides the keynote address at the Air Force Association’s Annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Oxen Hill, MD, on September 19, 2018.

Saudi Arabia rejected the suggestion it played a role in the leaking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ intimate messages to the National Enquirer.

Adel al-Jubeir, the country’s minister of state for foreign affairs and the former foreign minister, told CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that the Arab kingdom had “nothing to do with” the episode.

“Absolutely not,” Al-Jubeir said, when quizzed over whether his government had any involvement in the leaking of messages to AMI, the tabloid’s publisher.

“This sounds to me like a soap opera,” he added. “I’ve been watching it on television and reading about it in the paper. This is something between the two parties. We have nothing to do with it.”

His remarks come after Bezos lashed out at AMI for alleged blackmail and extortion in a stunning blog post last week. In the post, Bezos said the National Enquirer threatened to post sexual pictures he had texted to his mistress, Lauren Sanchez, including a “below the belt selfie.”

Bezos alluded to claims that AMI and CEO David Pecker have links to the Saudi government. The Amazon chief also mentioned his ownership of the Washington Post, noting that the newspaper’s “essential and unrelenting coverage of the murder of its columnist Jamal Khashoggi is undoubtedly unpopular in certain circles.”