Jeff Bezos blasted the National Enquirer, and its owner, David Pecker, in a shocking Medium post Thursday for attempting to blackmail the Amazon CEO and founder with a threat to publish his “d*ck pick [sic]” and nine other salacious photos obtained by the Enquirer.

Here’s the full text of the extortion email Jeff Bezos says his office received from Dylan Howard, the Editor in Chief of the National Enquirer:

From: Howard, Dylan [dhoward@amilink.com] (Chief Content Officer, AMI)

Sent: Tuesday, February 5, 2019 3:33 PM

To: Martin Singer (litigation counsel for Mr. de Becker)

Subject:. Jeff Bezos & Ms. Lauren Sanchez Photos CONFIDENTIAL & NOT FOR DISTRIBIUTION Marty: I am leaving the office for the night. I will be available on my cell — 917 XXX-XXXX. However, in the interests of expediating this situation, and with The Washington Post poised to publish unsubstantiated rumors of The National Enquirer’s initial report, I wanted to describe to you the photos obtained during our newsgathering. In addition to the “below the belt selfie — otherwise colloquially known as a ‘d*ck pick’” — The Enquirer obtained a further nine images. These include: · Mr. Bezos face selfie at what appears to be a business meeting. · Ms. Sanchez response — a photograph of her smoking a cigar in what appears to be a simulated oral sex scene. · A shirtless Mr. Bezos holding his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring. He’s wearing either tight black cargo pants or shorts — and his semi-erect manhood is penetrating the zipper of said garment. · A full-length body selfie of Mr. Bezos wearing just a pair of tight black boxer-briefs or trunks, with his phone in his left hand — while wearing his wedding ring. · A selfie of Mr. Bezos fully clothed. · A full-length scantily-clad body shot with short trunks. · A naked selfie in a bathroom — while wearing his wedding ring. Mr. Bezos is wearing nothing but a white towel — and the top of his pubic region can be seen. · Ms. Sanchez wearing a plunging red neckline dress revealing her cleavage and a glimpse of her nether region. · Ms. Sanchez wearing a two-piece red bikini with gold detail dress revealing her cleavage. It would give no editor pleasure to send this email. I hope common sense can prevail — and quickly. Dylan.

A few weeks ago the National Enquirer revealed to the world that Jeff Bezos was having an extramarital affair when it published intimate texts between Bezos and his girlfriend. That prompted Bezos to hire a private investigator, security specialist Gavin de Becker, to determine how the Enquirer obtained the texts.

Although Bezos didn’t say so in his Medium post, it would appear that Becker found some incriminating information about AMI’s activities.

AMI, the company that owns the National Enquirer is currently feeling the heat from Justice Department investigations into potential corruption related to AMI CEO David Pecker’s close ties with Donald Trump and the Saudi government.

The Offer AMI Thought Jeff Couldn’t Refuse

Here’s the quid pro quo the Enquirer offered the Amazon founder not to publish his “d*ck pick” and other salacious photos and texts belonging to Bezos and his girlfriend:

“In the AMI letters I’m making public, you will see the precise details of their extortionate proposal: They will publish the personal photos unless Gavin de Becker and I make the specific false public statement to the press that we ‘have no knowledge or basis for suggesting that AMI’s coverage was politically motivated or influenced by political forces.'”

Jeff Bezos Doesn’t Negotiate With Terrorists

Bezos wrote:

“Well, that got my attention. But not in the way they likely hoped. Any personal embarrassment AMI could cause me takes a back seat because there’s a much more important matter involved here. If in my position I can’t stand up to this kind of extortion, how many people can? (On that point, numerous people have contacted our investigation team about their similar experiences with AMI, and how they needed to capitulate because, for example, their livelihoods were at stake.)”

Concluding:

“Of course I don’t want personal photos published, but I also won’t participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption. I prefer to stand up, roll this log over, and see what crawls out.”

Sounds like soon some people at The National Enquirer are going to “learn to code.”

Read Jeff Bezos’ full Medium post here.

Jeff Bezos Image from Jim WATSON / AFP