Sex, plots and blackmail: the toxic politics behind Bezos claims

The stunning extortion claims made by Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos against the Trump-friendly National Enquirer tabloid -- have spotlighted a fierce behind-the-scenes media feud, taking place in an ever more toxic US political climate.

The story recounted by Bezos -- the world's richest man -- touches on political intrigue, sexual indiscretion, the murder of a Saudi journalist and bitter charges of media bias.

The supermarket tabloid last month reported Bezos had an extramarital affair with a former news anchor, publishing a trove of private text messages. The report appeared days after Bezos and his wife Mackenzie announced their divorce.

That prompted Bezos to launch an investigation into the Enquirer, and how it was able to obtain such intimate material.

In a post on the online platform Medium, Bezos said Enquirer publisher American Media Inc (AMI), led by David Pecker, a friend of President Donald Trump, was now threatening to publish intimate photos of him, if he did not call off the probe.

"Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I've decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten," Bezos wrote.

Bezos maintained that the Enquirer demanded that he and his security consultant Gavin de Becker, who is leading the probe, publically state they had "no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces."

- Saudi connection? -

The revelations appear to show the gossip tabloid trying to smear Bezos -- who Trump has repeatedly attacked as the owner of The Washington Post, a paper he claims is biased against him.

Bezos meanwhile hinted he may have been targeted by pro-Trump forces in part because of the Post's coverage of the murder of its contributor Jamal Khashoggi, who was strangled and dismembered by Saudi agents in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October.

"The Post's essential and unrelenting coverage of the murder of its columnist Jamal Khashoggi is undoubtedly unpopular in certain circles," he wrote.

Although Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is accused of ordering the assassination, the Trump administration has maintained there is no irrefutable evidence of his involvement, while stressing the importance of the strategic partnership between Washington and Riyadh.

Pointing at connections between Pecker, AMI and the government of Saudi Arabia, Bezos said he learned that "Pecker is 'apoplectic' about our investigation," and that "the Saudi angle seems to hit a particularly sensitive nerve."

American Media said in an emailed statement that it "believes fervently that it acted lawfully in the reporting of the story of Mr Bezos" and made "good faith negotiations" with the US billionaire but had decided nonetheless to "promptly and thoroughly investigate the claims" by the Amazon CEO.

Bezos pointed out that Pecker recently entered into an immunity deal with federal prosecutors on his role in so-called "catch and kill" stories -- in which reports are quashed by paying off sources -- about Trump and his alleged mistresses.

But Pecker and his Enquirer colleagues could face fresh criminal investigations based on the Bezos allegations, according to former federal prosecutor Jacob Frenkel.

The allegations "easily could fall into possible violations of federal criminal statutes involving extortion or wire fraud," the attorney said.

- Deepening political feuds? -

The case highlights a politically-tinged feud between the Post owner and the supermarket tabloid, with Bezos asserting that he would not be intimidated.

Releasing the email exchanges, he said, shows "the precise details of their extortionate proposal: They will publish the personal photos unless Gavin de Becker and I make the specific false public statement to the press... And there's an associated threat: They'll keep the photos on hand and publish them in the future if we ever deviate from that lie."

The disclosures are also likely to deepen the rift between Bezos and Trump, who claims that the tech entrepreneur is using the newspaper for his own purposes.

Taking aim last month at Bezos, Trump alluded to Enquirer reporting of the billionaire's relationship with the former news anchor and entertainment reporter, Lauren Sanchez. 

"So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo being taken down by a competitor whose reporting, I understand, is far more accurate than the reporting in his lobbyist newspaper, the Amazon Washington Post," he tweeted.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Ivanka Trump used personal email for govt business: report

WASHINGTON - The US president's daughter and senior advisor Ivanka Trump used a personal email account for government business in violation of federal records rules, The Washington Post reported Monday.

The Post, citing anonymous sources, said the discovery was made by White House officials reviewing emails in response to a public records lawsuit.

When asked about it, Trump said she was unfamiliar with details of the rules, the Post said.

A spokesman for Trump's attorney confirmed that she did use a private email account before she was informed of the rules, and said that all her government-related emails had been turned over months ago, the newspaper reported.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly pilloried Hillary Clinton, his rival in the 2016 presidential election, for her use of a private email server for government business while she was secretary of state.

Then FBI director James Comey -- fired by the president last year -- announced that the bureau would reopen an investigation into Clinton's use of the private email server just 11 days before the 2016 presidential vote, a move that some say may have helped cost her the election.

Trump supporters still chant "Lock her up!" at rallies, mimicking one of Trump's battle cries during the election campaign, indicating they believe Clinton should be jailed.

wd/dw

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Russia says 'no comment' on Trump team contacts

MOSCOW - Russia's deputy foreign minister on Saturday declined to comment on reported calls between president-elect Donald Trump's incoming national security advisor and Moscow's ambassador to Washington.

Asked to comment on the reported calls, deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov told RIA Novosti news agency that "we don't comment on daily working contacts of our embassy or foreign ministry representatives with colleagues from other countries, including the United States."

The Washington Post reported that Flynn telephoned Moscow's ambassador to Washington Sergei Kislyak, several times on December 28.

It said Kislyak extended an invitation for the incoming administration to attend peace talks on Syria to be hosted by Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan, which are planned for January 23, three days after Trump's inauguration.

Trump's incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, said the pair spoke by phone on December 28 about "the logistics of setting up a call with the president of Russia and the president-elect after he was sworn in, and they exchanged logistical information on how to initiate and schedule that call."

He added: "That was it. Plain and simple."

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that invitations to attend the peace talks in Astana were likely to be sent out next week, with both Turkey and Russia agreeing that the United States should be involved.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Obama focuses on relief for working families

REDWOOD CITY, California - President Barack Obama has declared a full-on economic resurgence in this State of the Union (SOTU) address, with his approval rating rising for the first time in years and with more Americans showing more optimism for the economy.

A New Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that half of Americans said they approve of the job Obama is doing as president, his best rating since the spring of 2013. The poll also showed 41 percent of people think the economy is headed to the right direction, compared with 27 percent in October.

Besides highlighting the need to improve cybersecurity and to invest in infrastructure, the centerpiece of President Obama’s SOTU is middle-class economics, with a tax plan that addresses income inequality.

The plan provides extra money to low and middle-income families in the form of tax credits for children and working couples. It also increases taxes on upper-income taxpayers, particularly the one percent, through cutbacks and higher restrictions on savings. It is expected to raise $320 billion in revenue from wealthy Americans, while cutting middle class taxes by $175 billion.

He also pushes for lower mortgage insurance premiums that seek to help about two million borrowers save an average of $900 a year if they purchase or refinance their homes.

Another way Obama plans to help the middle-class is to provide free community college tuition, a 10-year plan costing $60 billion, which hopes to aid up to nine million students save an average of $3,800 a year.

The president also called on Congress to pass a bill that would require all U.S. companies to give employees seven days of paid sick leave a year.

President Obama, as expected, has already gotten some strong opposition from Republicans who control the House and Senate. In the past, the GOP leadership has been against increasing taxes and fees for the rich to reduce taxes for the middle class. For now, it remains to be seen if the president can manage to pull some strings as he strives to make a lasting impact in his last two years in office.

Read more from Balitang America:
http://www.balitangamerica.tv/

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Amazon founder Bezos to buy the Washington Post

Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos will buy the Washington Post newspaper for $250 million in a surprise deal that ends the Graham family's 80-year ownership and hands one of the country's most influential publications to the tech entrepreneur.

Bezos, hailed by many as a visionary who helped transform Internet retail, called his acquisition a personal endeavor and reassured Post employees and readers he will preserve the paper's journalistic tradition, while driving innovation.

The acquisition, the latest in a flurry of recent media deals including the New York Times Co's sale of the Boston Globe for $70 million, is a further indication of the unprecedented challenges newspapers face as advertising revenue and readership decline.

Shares of the Washington Post Co climbed more than 5 percent to $599.85 after hours - their highest level in almost five years.

"I understand the critical role the Post plays in Washington, DC and our nation, and the Post's values will not change," Bezos said in a letter addressed to employees and published on the newspaper's website.

"There will of course be change at the Post over the coming years. That's essential and would have happened with or without new ownership," he added. "We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment."

Bezos, who has built Seattle-based Amazon.com into a shopping and online technology force over the last two decades, made a small foray into media earlier this year with a small investment in Internet news site Business Insider.

The Washington Post, home to journalists as the "Watergate" team of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, is among the rapidly dwindling number of U.S. newspapers with a profitable business - a function of the rapid migration of readers to Internet and other digital media sources.

Warren Buffett owns a slice of its parent company, Washington Post Co, whose operating income has plummeted almost 40 percent since 2008, to $146.2 million in 2012.

"I doubt it is a financially oriented investment for him as much as a chance to play a more important role as a steward of an important public trust/asset," said James Barksdale, President of Atlanta investment firm Equity Investment Corp.

Barksdale said his firm did not own Washington Post shares because he thought they traded higher than he thought justified, "probably due to the Buffett halo," he added.

Bezos will buy the Post along with other newspaper assets from the Washington Post Co. Amazon.com is to be kept separate from the Post deal, according to the Washington Post.

The deal, which caught many industry watchers by surprise, was arranged in private by Allen & Co. It comes on the heels of near-unprecedented media deal activity this year, with the Globe transaction announced just over the weekend, the Tribune Co hiving off its publishing and broadcasting businesses and the Los Angeles Times reportedly up for sale.

GRAHAM FAMILY RELINQUISH THEIR CLAIM

Washington Post Chairman and Chief Executive Donald E. Graham, whose family owns the paper, explained his decision to part ways with the publication, which will continue to be headed on a daily basis by CEO Katharine Weymouth.

"As the newspaper business continued to bring up questions to which we have no answers, Katharine and I began to ask ourselves if our small public company was still the best home for the newspaper. Our revenues had declined seven years in a row," Graham said in his letter to employees.

"Jeff Bezos' proven technology and business genius, his long-term approach and his personal decency make him a uniquely good new owner for the Post."

The transaction covers The Washington Post and other publishing businesses, including the Express newspaper, The Gazette Newspapers, Southern Maryland Newspapers, Fairfax County Times, El Tiempo Latino and Greater Washington Publishing.

Bezos is the world's 19th richest person with a fortune of $25.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine. His other major personal project is called Blue Origin, which aims to be one of the first non-government funded ventures to send people and cargo into space, potentially winning lucrative contracts that were once fulfilled by NASA.

Bezos has already spent millions of dollars on this project, with millions more in the pipeline.

He did not elaborate in great detail on his motivations behind his latest deal on Monday. But in 2009, when asked at the debut of the Kindle 2 whether the electronic-reader could help print media, Bezos said he thought there were "genuine opportunities" to save journalism.

"And we're excited about helping with that," he added, according to the International Herald Tribune.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com