Federal prosecutors have uncovered evidence that Jeff Bezos’s girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, gave her brother, Michael Sanchez nude photos of Jeff Bezos, that he leaked to the National Enquirer, according to the Wall Street Journal.

David Ryder / Getty Images

Prosecutors claim text messages sent from Lauren Sanchez to Michael Sanchez on May 10, 2018 and July 3, 2018 contain nude photos of Bezos and sexually suggestive photos of Lauren Sanchez.  Those photos were then sold to the National Enquirer for $200,000, as previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

It is unclear whether Lauren knew her brother would sell the photos. 

In February 2019, Bezos publicized that he was being threatened by the National Enquirer and released emails that showed what the publication had acquired: “I was made an offer I couldn’t refuse. Or at least that’s what the top people at the National Enquirer thought,” Bezos wrote in a blog post on Medium. “I’m glad they thought that, because it emboldened them to put it all in writing. Rather than capitulate to extortion and blackmail, I’ve decided to publish exactly what they sent me, despite the personal cost and embarrassment they threaten.”

In September 2018, AMI,  the National Enquirer’s publisher, confirmed they received the pictures from Michael Sanchez in a statement to the Wall Street Journal.