Read National Enquirer's response to Jeff Bezos's bombshell Medium post

When the Enquirer was about to reveal the existence of the relationship last month, Bezos and his wife, author MacKenzie Bezos, announced that they were divorcing "after a long period of loving exploration and trial separation".

A letter from AMI's Dylan Howard warns of consequences if the Washington Post, owned by Bezos, published "unsubstantiated rumours" about the firm and its Trump-backing owner, David Pecker. Bezos began to investigate how the leak of his private information came about. Last April, Farrow published a story in the New Yorker about the Enquirer's "catch and kill" practice - in which stories are buried by paying off sources - that benefited Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Mr. Bezos's investigators have suggested the Enquirer's coverage of his affair was politically motivated.

"Depending on whom you believe, the Enquirer's exposé on Bezos' affair was a political hit inspired by President Trump's allies, an inside job by people seeking to protect Bezos' marriage, or no conspiracy at all, simply a juicy gossip story", the Post reported.

Pecker is now cooperating with federal investigators who are looking into the company's involvement with the Trump campaign.

A judge confirmed in a court filing on Thursday that federal prosecutors in NY were still investigating campaign finance crimes committed when Cohen paid two women to stay silent about alleged affairs with Trump before he became president.

NEW YORK: 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 United States political climate. In the next sentence, Bezos describes the non-prosecution agreement struck in September between AMI and the Justice Department.

"The National Enquirer has been doggedly investigating this story for four months and the extraordinary details and evidence uncovered by our team, and presented to Mr. Bezos' representatives for comment early this week, underscores the kind of investigative reporting that the publication has always been known for", a spokesman says.

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"This could constitute criminal conduct in the eyes of a prosecutor, if these allegations are true", said Mintz. AMI has said that it didn't hack or cause anyone to hack Bezos' property, but if they did so for the objective of shaking Bezos down for a "thing of value" that could be a crime.

Mr de Becker did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Emails published by Bezos appeared to show Enquirer executives threatening to publish a series of salacious photos of him and Sanchez if the demands were not met. AMI deputy general counsel Jon P. Fine was involved.

The newspaper's owner AMI reached the deal a year ago after paying $150,000 to silence Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who had allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump. Like Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, the richest man on the planet, who was forced to do a post about how people are trying to leak his nudes. "Also, The Post's essential and unrelenting coverage of the murder of its columnist Jamal Khashoggi is undoubtedly unpopular in certain circles".

The Bezos-Enquirer tussle may be another instance where the legal questions are eclipsed by a broader battle.

Mr Bezos included an email in which, according to Mr Bezos, Mr Fine proposed on Wednesday that the photos would not be published in return for a public statement "affirming that [Mr Bezos and his team] have no knowledge or basis" to suspect such a motive.

Bezos also suggested that Saudi Arabia may have been working against him behind the scenes.