photo or tip and they would call the person or e-mail the person and basically threaten we re going to run with this unless you do something? it s pretty much sop, standard operating procedure. i haven t been there in 12 years but even then. what they did then was still happening now. so that s pretty much how they do business. what do people usually do. jeff bezos had a different reaction. he then published. what do people normally do? they cave. it s a strong letter. if you read what they wrote, it s a strong lert. here s what they sent, okay. they said, with the washington post pois poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of national enquirer s initial report wrarnted to describe to you the photos obtained during our news gathering in the addition to the below the belt selfie otherwise colloquially known as a blank pick, the enquirer obtained a further
national enquirer s report, i wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our news gathering. in addition to below the belt selfie, otherwise colloquially known as a i don t know if i should say that as a blank pick, the enquirer obtained a further nine images. and the e-mail goes on to share details of those racy photos you would say, including some selfies. we ll leave it at that. they have the claim of blackmail and extortion is based on that. joining me for more on that is cnn media correspondent brian stelter. back with us is jeffrey toobin and joining us is cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. bezos calling this blackmail and extortion. they essentially sent him a letter or his attorneys a letter saying we these are the photos we have. it s clearly it s going to be embarrassing. we won t publish them if you make a statement saying that there s nothing to do between
published these e-mails but published the e-mail addresses which we re not putting up for you, although interestingly he actually blacked out a phone number in one of them i m thinking you got the e-mail out there. but these came from the chief content officer and also the general counsel. let s take a look at some of what jeff bezos put through the in his blog post. these are the e-mails i can t speak ether morning. put it up on the screen for you. noting with the washington post points poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of the national enquirer s initial report i wanted to describe to you the foe toes, these are the photos brian was referencing, obtained during our news gathering in addition to the in their words below the belt selfie, other wise known as a blank pick. the enquirer obtained a further nine images. goes on to post saying in this exchange affirming that they have no knowledge or basis there is again what we were talking about, they want bezos to say appare
power over you going forward and then ending it with a little fig leaf of ethics saying we hope this is obviously a note that no editor would like to send. this is part of their game plan. it s muscle memory, extortion, blackmail, it s disgusting. let me read the threat that bezos published yesterday, i ll clean up parts of it. it is something that he put on on his own. when this is bezos gub u publishing a letter he says was sent to him by the lawyers of the enquirer. the lawyer told bezos i want to describe to outphotos obtained during the news gathering. in an e addition to a below the belt selfie, otherwise known as a blank pick, the enquirer obtained another nine majs. that s the threat, we have these pictures of you. i don t think anyone should be totally surprised that the
enquirer thought. i m glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing. rather than to capitulate to extortion and blackmail, i decided to publish exactly what they sent me despite the personal costs and embarrassment they threatened. bezos shares several e-mails, one reportedly from ami s chief content officer to the attorney for bezos investigator. here is the key part. quote, with the washington post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors, the national enquirer s report, i wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our news gathering. in addition to below the belt selfie, otherwise colloquially known as a i don t know if i should say that as a blank pick, the enquirer obtained a further nine images. and the e-mail goes on to share details of those racy photos you would say, including some selfies. we ll leave it at that. they have the claim of blackmail and extortion is based on that. joining me for more on that is cnn senior media