THE PRINCE AND THE PECKER?

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 18 United States Code, Section 875(d):

"Whoever, with intent to extort from any person.... anything of value, transmits ... any communication containing any threat to injure the...reputation of the addressee ... shall be...imprisoned not more than two years."

When AMI's National Inquirer, led by Mr. David Pecker, published private texts between Jeff Bezos and his apparent love-interest Lauren Sanchez, Mr. Bezos hired a private investigator to learn how Pecker obtained the private communications. Bezos announced that there were "several independent investigations" looking into that matter, and his chief investigator told the press that "strong leads point to political motives."

"Political motives?" Surely that surprised nobody, seeing as how i) Mr. Pecker is known to be a good friend of Mr. Trump, ii) indeed, in his deal to avoid prosecution, Mr. Pecker confessed that he and his organization knowingly committed crimes in order to support Mr. Trump's  campaign, iii) Mr. Trump has repeatedly and publicly announced his political dislike for Mr. Bezos and the newspaper he owns, The Washington Post, and iv) The Post has been particularly vocal about the murder of its columnist, Jamal Kashoggi. And while the evidence is now overwhelming that Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the hit, Trump refuses to publicly acknowledge that fact.

If there were any doubt as to where Mr. Trump's sympathies lay, our President posted this truly remarkable tweet about the Bezos-Pecker conflict: "So sorry to hear the news about Jeff Bozo (sic) 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."

An "AMI leader" told the Bezos team that Pecker was "apoplectic" about the notion of Bezos investigating the source of the private texts, and it appears a mention of Saudi Arabia seemed "to hit a particularly sensitive nerve." AMI asserted it was defamed by the Bezos team's statements about AMI's motivations in outing the private texts, and declared it "emphatically rejects that its reporting was instigated, dictated, or influenced in any manner by external forces, political or otherwise." (Emphasis in original). AMI insisted its revelations were "just a news story," and threatened Bezos that if he persisted in his investigations and his assertion of AMI's possible political motives, he would be doing so "at your peril."

If that were insufficiently explicit, AMI turned up the heat and told Bezos it had additional private Bezos-Sanchez material in its possession -- personal photographs that the press has referred to as "dick pics." AMI suggested in the clearest terms that it would not publish them if Bezos were to publicly state he had "no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI's coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces"...and if he promised to never even "refer to such a possibility." If Bezos refused, AMI would be free to publish the embarrassing photographs.

  

Bezos hung tough. He said it would be a lie for him to say he believed there was no political motivation for AMI's conduct, and he adamantly refused to stop investigating how AMI got his personal texts and photographs.

So, for our first question: Did AMI commit a crime by threatening to "injure" Bezos's "reputation" in exchange for "something of value" to AMI? Answer: Yes, a skunk does shit in the woods, and yes, Pecker and AMI are guilty of felony extortion.

Second, AMI's criminal problems are not limited extortion via 18 USC 875. In its September, 2018 deal with the SDNY, AMI received a conditional non-prosecution promise regarding the crimes it committed in support of the Trump campaign. The government's promise dissolves if the company commits any other crime in the next three years. Now, because of this extortion, AMI, Pecker, et al, are staring down the shotgun barrel of a possible multiple-felony SDNY indictment.

But there are more goodies in this Easter Basket. A condition of the deal was AMI's promise to "truthfully and completely disclose all information...concerning all matters which [the SDNY prosecutors office] inquires of it...for any purpose." Failing that, the government may indict for "any crime for which this office has knowledge, including perjury and obstruction of justice." Zowie!

Bottom line, if the government asks how AMI acquired the private Bezos-Sanchez communications, AMI is bound to give "truthful and complete" answers or face yet more criminal charges.

AMI matched the level of absurdity reached the Trump tweet, by announcing that while the company acted lawfully, the Board of Directors has nevertheless determined it will investigate the Bezos claims of improper conduct by Messrs. Pecker et al.

What standard will the Board apply to this key investigation? Doubtless it will be AMI's published one-sentence "Code of Ethics and Corporate Conduct." It requires, simply enough, "the highest possible ethical conduct" of its executives.

Who will determine if Pecker's dick-pic journalism meets that standard? The AMI Board of Directors consists of four people.

The Chairman of the Board is Mr. Pecker. Inasmuch as it is his conduct under review, one presumes he will be recused. Y'think?

The Chair of Board's Audit Committee is Mr. David Hughes, who previously served as Executive VP, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2014. Prior to that he held executive positions at several gambling enterprises, including Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. He was appointed a member of American Media's Board of Directors "based on his significant operational and financial experience in the entertainment industry."

Mr. Evan Ratner, also on the Audit Committee, has an extensive background as a portfolio manager for hedge funds focusing on distressed properties. Earlier in his career, he was an investment analyst at Goldman Sachs, where he focused on "financial institutions."

Mr. Barry Schwartz was the founder of a hedge fund specializing in global high yield trading, and has degrees in Accounting and Business.

Doubtless, these three blind mice knew nothing about this caper, and will be shocked at what Pecker has done here. Shocked!

Don't touch that dial! There's one more interesting item to be discussed today. The Bezos investigation team told a reporter that investigators believe that Bezos's phone was not hacked, but that his communications were "intercepted" by a "government agency!"

Holy shit! A "government agency!" Government spies! Is that what Pecker is "apoplectic" about? Are we gonna learn that the reason the mention of Saudi Arabia hit a Pecker's particularly sensitive nerve, is that Pecker and Trump's good buddy, the murderous Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is behind the interception and/or the transmission of the illegally obtained texts and pics?

And if there is a government agency involved in any part of this blackmail or payback machine, and/or if there is a Trump fingerprint on any part of that mechanism, could that be the "smoking gun" that finally removes this embarrassment from our White House?

Are we having fun yet?

A bientot!

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