US prosecutors have obtained evidence indicating that Jeff Bezos' girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, sent her brother text messages that were later published in the National Enquirer in its story about their affair, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The texts sent from Sanchez's phone to her brother Michael Sanchez in 2018 include a flirtatious message from Bezos and a shirtless photo of him, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The text messages are part of evidence gathered by federal prosecutors in Manhattan as they investigate whether the National Enquirer's publisher, American Media Inc. (AMI), tried to extort Bezos.
While prosecutors continue to investigate, no one, including Lauren and Michael Sanchez, has been charged with a crime.
CNN Business has previously reported that Michael Sanchez provided the National Enquirer with information about his sister's extramarital affair with Bezos. The tabloid published its story about the affair shortly after Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, announced their divorce last January.
The Washington Post boss subsequently published a blog post accusing American Media of "extortion and blackmail."
People close to Bezos have suggested that Saudi Arabia was behind the leak of his private information.
Saudi Arabia denied on Tuesday that it was responsible for any such hack. The Saudi embassy in Washington wrote on Twitter that "recent media reports that suggest the Kingdom is behind a hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos' phone are absurd."
AMI has denied any links to Saudi Arabia.
Michael Sanchez declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal on the texts or his interactions with American Media.
Since the story first came to light, American Media, owner of the National Enquirer, has maintained that it received information about the affair from Michael Sanchez, not from Saudi Arabia, and reiterated that position in a statement published Thursday in The New York Times.
It seems likely that Michael Sanchez is the primary source for the National Enquirer’s story.
