# National Enquirer tries to blackmail Bezos over Wash. Post stories **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 8, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145 "2019-02-08T00:08:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2019, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/121 "2019-03-19T04:48:06Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I didn’t realize the National Enquirer paid that well… That’s more than they paid Karen McDougal. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/122 "2019-04-11T04:16:19Z")
> [@](#): > > American Media Inc. is actively seeking to sell off the National Enquirer, according to three people familiar with the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. > > The decision to sell came after the hedge fund manager whose firm controls American Media became “disgusted” with the Enquirer’s reporting tactics, according to one of these people. > **[National Enquirer expected to be sold imminently as parent company faces...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/national-enquirer-expected-to-be-sold-imminently-as-parent-company-faces-pressure/2019/04/10/07bb2d88-5ba5-11e9-9625-01d48d50ef75_story.html)** > > American Media Inc.’s board of directors is selling its tabloid brands after the hedge fund manager, whose firm controls the tabloid’s parent company, became “disgusted” with the tabloids reporting tactics. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/123 "2019-04-11T04:46:00Z")
Bezos just has to buy it. First he can release all of the anti Trump stuff that they’re sitting on and then he can shut it down. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/124 "2019-04-11T14:11:39Z")
> [@](#): > > American Media Inc. is actively seeking to sell off the National Enquirer, according to three people familiar with the process who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. > > The decision to sell came after the hedge fund manager whose firm controls American Media became “disgusted” with the Enquirer’s reporting tactics, according to one of these people. I’m shocked,\*\* SHOCKED \*\*to find that sleazy reporting is going on in here! ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/125 "2019-04-11T14:11:40Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Bezos just has to buy it. First he can release all of the anti Trump stuff that they’re sitting on and **then he can shut it down**. It’s be funnier if he turned it into an actual newspaper, and then we all placed bets on how long it takes their readership to notice the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/126 "2019-04-11T15:12:48Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/national-enquirer-expected-to-be-sold-imminently-as-parent-company-faces-pressure/2019/04/10/07bb2d88-5ba5-11e9-9625-01d48d50ef75\_story.html](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/national-enquirer-expected-to-be-sold-imminently-as-parent-company-faces-pressure/2019/04/10/07bb2d88-5ba5-11e9-9625-01d48d50ef75_story.html) Were he truly disgusted, he would be seeking to liquidate it rather than sell it off to someone else who could keep doing the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/127 "2019-04-11T19:58:07Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s be funnier if he turned it into an actual newspaper, and then we all placed bets on how long it takes their readership to notice the difference. That’s the possibility that I’m hoping for. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/128 "2019-04-11T20:15:06Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Were he truly disgusted, he would be seeking to liquidate it rather than sell it off to someone else who could keep doing the same thing. I liked Rachael Maddow’s take on it. She said “It takes some work to disgust a hedge fund manager.” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2019, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/129 "2019-04-12T03:48:34Z")
I happened to see that bit, but got the impression that her point was that said manager was cheerfully cashing _National Enquirer_ checks for quite some time, but had just _recently_ seen the darkness and smelled the stink. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/130 "2019-04-13T02:20:21Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I happened to see that bit, but got the impression that her point was that said manager was cheerfully cashing _National Enquirer_ checks for quite some time, but had just _recently_ seen the darkness and smelled the stink. Well, put yourself in his shoes. How often does well-paid hedge fund manage go to the supermarket? He’s got people who do that for him. They’ve no doubt told him that it’s an excellent news source. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/131 "2019-04-13T02:39:19Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > It’s be funnier if he turned it into an actual newspaper, and then we all placed bets on how long it takes their readership to notice the difference. 1. They should keep the headline writers and layout editors. Example: That huge type they use says “WHITE HOUSE SHOCKER!” accompanied by a pic of Trump with his combover blowing in the breeze and the angle makes him look even fatter than he is. More likely though they make the cover story be about some Hollywood star dying or getting arrested or whatever, with the Trump stuff inside. (I never read more than the headlines when in the grocery store checkout lane, but I think they may be doing this now.) 2. The first month they publish articles about the Trump admin that are just slightly negative. Month 2 more negative. By month 5 they should be telling it like it truly is – but still in the Enquirer style. There’s about 20 months to the election. Timed just right it could have a measurable impact on the vote. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/132 "2019-04-13T02:56:15Z")
I think he should make it look like [this](https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/03/04/prospiracy-theories/) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/133 "2020-01-22T02:35:19Z")
The hack? Where the Enquirer got the photos? It was performed by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia himself, who hacked Bezos’ phone while Whatsapping with Bezos. Yes, that is right: the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia _personally_ hacked the phone of the world’s richest person, a man who owns the Washington Post, and, within months: 1. Sent the pictures to AMI to extort Bezos 2. Killed Khashoggi > **[Jeff Bezos hack: Amazon boss's phone 'hacked by Saudi crown prince'](https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jan/21/amazon-boss-jeff-bezoss-phone-hacked-by-saudi-crown-prince?CMP=share_btn_tw&__twitter_impression=true)** > > Exclusive: investigation suggests Washington Post owner was targeted five months before murder of Jamal Khashoggi Commentary: > [@](#): > > 1. Jeff Bezos’s phone was hacked through his Whatsapp account > 2. The exploit came _directly_ from MBS’s personal phone, a few days after they exchanged numbers > 3. The Saudis were in Bezos’s phone from May 2018 till February 2019 > 4. The Bezos hack was not about Amazon. It was about the Washington Post > 5. There is an extensive forensic report upcoming > 6. Full details around this will become available to the public in a few months > 7. Yes it was Pegasus, the cyberweapon made by Israeli company NSO > 8. You think you’re safe if you use Signal with disappearing messages? Think again > 9. Between May and October 2018, the Saudis also hacked many others. All were about free speech, not business. > ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/134 "2020-01-22T02:52:04Z")
And I thought the producers of “What the Fuck is Happening to Life as We Know It” had hit their high mark a few episodes ago when a dick-waving contest resulted in IRAN shooting down a BOEING airliner from UKRAINE that was filled with CANADIANS ( for that random wildcard effect ) But this weeks episode may be a new highwater mark for zany insanity, especially considering all the other plot lines that are active. It must be sweeps week! ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/135 "2020-01-22T02:54:56Z")
But Saudi Arabia is the best friend that the US has after Russia… ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/136 "2020-01-22T04:56:46Z")
I teach cybersecurity for a living. My area of specialty is computer forensics. My expert opinion of this story is: what the actual fuck? I… I just… I can’t. I saw this story hit today and I haven’t had a chance to dig into it. I hope to get some time to pore over it tomorrow, but by then I’m sure some other batshit crazy thing will have popped up that will distract me from this. In the meantime, I see the evil logic in the Saudis getting into Bezos’s phone to get information on Khashoggi. But why would they turn over the pics to AMI? What do they have to gain from extorting Bezos? Unless it went something like this: > [@](#): > > MBS: Donald, we want to kill Khashoggi, and we hacked into Bezos’s phone. > DJT: This is going to hurt me at home. I have to come out against this. > MBS: What if I told you we have messages with his mistress, and we’ll release them if you stay quiet? > DJT: Deal. Every day it gets worse. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/137 "2020-01-22T05:00:16Z")
Oh, and yeah, as **JohnT’s** quote says – WhatsApp and Signal encrypt messages in transit, so they give you decent protection from snooping between your phone and the other person’s. But if your adversary compromises either endpoint, you’re fucked. End-to-end encryption is great and all, but the messages still have to be shown in plain text so the humans on each end can read them. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/138 "2020-01-22T07:43:12Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > But Saudi Arabia is the best friend that the US has after Russia… With friends like those, who needs enemies? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/139 "2020-01-22T15:56:17Z")
If the Arabs did not have oil nobody would care about them. Sadly the world runs on oil so we have to deal with those nutjobs/dictators/fanatics etc. All the more reason to get off oil. With no oil they would just be like all those countries in Africa that almost no Western countries care about except sending some humanitarian aid from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2020, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145/140 "2020-01-22T18:00:31Z")
I have to wonder it MBS sent Trump a video on WhatsApp? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/national-enquirer-tries-to-blackmail-bezos-over-wash-post-stories/829145.md?page=8)