The brother of Lauren Sanchez, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend, admitted to Fox News on Tuesday that he made a “deal with the devil,” referring to the National Enquirer, but claims he was only trying to protect the couple, who were both still married at the time and having an affair.
During an interview with Fox’s Howard Kurtz, Michael Sanchez said he cooperated with the National Enquirer’s investigation into Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s affair, but wouldn’t say whether he was paid the $200,000 for Bezos’ racy selfies and text messages with Lauren Sanchez.
“My goal was and is always to protect Jeff, Lauren, my parents, my niece and my nephews,” he told Fox. “Anyone who doesn’t get that by now is an idiot.”
Michael Sanchez claims he cooperated with the Enquirer because he hoped to use his longstanding relationship with the tabloid to “soften and slow down the story,” in Kurtz’ words.
“The reason, he said, was to buy time for the couple to firm up their relationship at a time when they had not yet separated from their spouses,” Kurtz wrote of their interview. “Sanchez acknowledged that he could have just told them to brace for the story, but acted surreptitiously because he felt the ensuing scandal would lead to an immediate breakup.”
Michael Sanchez claimed to Fox that in exchange, he would help the tabloid get a photo of Bezos and his sister kissing. Simultaneously, Michael Sanchez says he told the two to not sit near windows.
After salacious text messages between Bezos and Lauren Sanchez were published in the Enquirer, Bezos paid his personal security team to investigate how the tabloid was able to obtain the texts. Bezos reportedly thought the move was political, given American Media Inc.’s — the parent company of the Enquirer — cozy relationship with President Trump, who regularly attacks Bezos over the Washington Post’s coverage of his administration. Bezos owns the Post.
