In February, The Daily Beast reported that Michael Sanchez, a gay Trump supporter and the brother of Jeff Bezos’ mistress Lauren Sanchez, was behind the leak of Bezos’ racy photos to the National Enquirer.
Late on Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Michael Sanchez was paid $200,000 by the Enquirer‘s parent company AMI to do so.
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HuffPost reports: “Michael Sánchez, a talent agent and Lauren Sánchez’s brother, was a longtime source for the Enquirer, the Journal reported Monday. He’d started talking to the tabloid last fall about his sister’s relationship with Bezos, the paper said, citing unnamed sources. The Enquirer had already been trailing and photographing Bezos and Sánchez at the time of those conversations. David Pecker, American Media Inc.’s CEO, reportedly approved the payment to Sánchez so the tabloid could acquire the sexually charged text messages that the couple had sent to each other.”
USA Today reports: ‘The amount is higher than the company typically pays sources, the Journal reported, saying it “reflected the significance American Media placed on Mr. Sanchez’s information. … The Journal reported that Pecker was unaware Michael Sanchez was paid up-front and had a heated meeting with general counsel Cameron Stracher in New York City. AMI source agreements require, in most cases, for the company to pay for information after the story is published and if a story is never published the company doesn’t have to pay, the Journal reported. The company’s contract with Michael Sanchez was different and stipulated he was to paid up-front, regardless of whether any story was published, people familiar with the contract told the Journal.’
