Jeff Bezos investigator: Saudi Arabia received private information

"Our investigators and several experts concluded that Saudis had access to Bezos & # 39; phone and received private information," wrote Gavin de Becker in a Daily Beast statement article released on Saturday. He did not provide concrete evidence supporting his claims against the Saudi government. De Becker said that his findings have been transferred to federal officials and that he will not share details of the investigation with respect to those officials, adding "I intend to write today as my last public statement in the case." [19659002] He added that it is not clear whether National Enquirer's parent company American Media Inc., or AMI, "was aware of the details."

AMI responded to the Beckers statement in a statement to CNN Business on Sunday saying it was on a source, Sanchez's brother, Michael Sanchez, for his story.

"Despite the devalued claims of Mr. de Becker, American Media, and continues to, disprove the undisputed claims that the materials of our report were acquired by someone other than the single source who first brought them to us … there was no involvement of any other third party whatsoever. "Saudi Arabia denies any relationship with the Bezos story, according to de Becker. Saudi Arabian officials and de Becker did not respond to CNN's requests for comments on op-ed this weekend.

In the Daily Beast, De Becker wrote that he and his team spoke to current and former AMI leaders and sources, Middle East intelligence experts, Saudi whistleblowers and dissidents, as well as current and former advisers to President Trump, including before they came to the conclusion.

AMI leader David Pecker is a longtime friend of Trumps, and Enquirer was one of Trump's most trusted and enthusiastic media enhancers during the campaign. The publisher has admitted making a $ 150,000 payout in collaboration with members of Trump's presidential campaign to prevent former Playboy model Karen McDougal's claim for an affair with Trump from being released during the 2016 race. Trump refused.

But de Becker claims that the National Inquirer knew about the messages before approaching Sanchez. Sanchez told CNN Business that AMI was already pursuing a story about the relationship when it came to him. He added that "the Beckers latest smoke-and-mirror distraction" contained "zero evidence".

In his statement, AMI said that "the facts of the matter are that it was Michael Sanchez who sent the National Enquirer to the affair on September 10, 2018, and within four months provided all the materials for investigation." The spokesman added that Sanchez & # 39; Continued efforts to discuss and mistakenly represent our reporting, and his role in it, has abolished any source of confidentiality. »

The Saudis have presented changing stories of Khashoggi's fate, initially denying any knowledge until they claimed that a group of rogue operators, many of whom belong to bin Salman's inner circle, were responsible for the journalist's death. Riyadh maintains that neither bin Salman nor King Salman knew about the operation to target Khashoggi. However, US officials have said that such a mission – including 15 men sent from Riyadh – could not have been carried out without bin Salman's authorization.

In the post, Bezos noted that AMI has been investigated "for various actions they have taken on behalf of the Saudi government."

De Becker also referred to the story as evidence of a connection between AMI and the Saudi government.

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has previously denied any connection between his country and AMI to CNN.

– CNN's Brian Stelter, Oliver Darcy, Tom Kludt, Nicole Gaouette, Nada Altaher, Chandler Thornton and Sheena McKenzie contributed to this report.