Lauren Sanchez fights brother Michael’s request to depose her in his lawsuit against AMI

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ girlfriend, Lauren Sanchez, has accused her own brother of using the “cover of litigation” to psychologically abuse and pressure her “in the hopes that she would pay him to leave” .

The allegation comes amid court documents obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and recently filed by attorneys acting on Lauren’s behalf in a bid to overturn brother Michael’s attempts to depose her in a libel lawsuit he is bringing against American Media Inc. – to destroy the publishers of The National Enquirer. — his former Chief Executive David Pecker, editor Dylan Howard and others.

According to Lauren’s attorney, Terry W. Bird, the proposed statement is nothing more than a “Trojan horse,” which Sanchez is trying to use, “to gather information that he will then attempt to manipulate into a further harassing and abusive legal complaint.” in return for [his sister].’

Neither Lauren, 53, nor Bezos, 59, are parties to Sanchez’s lawsuit, but his case deals with the details of their affair being exposed four years ago.

Hollywood talent agent Sanchez, 56, claims he was slandered by AMI and co when they named him as the “sole source” for the tip and material leading up to the story of the affair which was reported in The National Enquirer on January 9, 2019 revealed. .

Earlier that same day, Bezos and his then-wife Mackenzie Tuttle, 53, posted an announcement on Twitter that they were separating.

According to Sanchez’s lawsuit, around the same time, Lauren also told her husband Patrick Whitesell, 58, the truth about her affair with Bezos, and also shared the fact that she had been approached for comment by The National Enquirer.

In reality, Sanchez, who was acting as his sister’s de facto manager and adviser at the time, was a source. But he was not, he claims, the only source, nor did he bring the information to the publication.

Instead, he claims the publication approached him with knowledge of the affair in the fall of 2018. He claims they knew about it as a result of a labyrinthine and political plot against Bezos involving Lauren’s ex-husband and the Saudi Arab government were involved.

Bezos responded to the story’s publication by having his chief of security investigate where it came from.

Given his ownership of the liberal Washington Post and AMI’s ties to President Trump and the Saudi government, he wanted to know if the story was politically motivated.

In May 2018, AMI had published a 97-page special entitled The New Kingdom profiling Saudi Arabia and its Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salam.

The Washington Post’s coverage of the murder of Saudi dissident their columnist Jamal Khashoggi just five months later went against the modernizing image the nation was trying to project.

It later emerged that Saudi intelligence had indeed hacked post owner Bezos’s phone with advanced spy gear, Pegasus – a program that gave them full access to all of his communications and data.

According to Sanchez’s indictment, AMI’s then-CEO Pecker became “apolectic” upon learning that Bezos had launched an investigation into their sources.

At the time the story was published, the magazine claimed it had a “steamy photo that was too graphic to print.”

In February 2019, Dylan Howard, editor of the National Enquirer, informed Bezos first verbally and later by email that he had received intimate text messages between the lovers, as well as an “under the belt selfie” or “lick pick” from Bezos .

Howard would have threatened to publish this material if Bezos did not stop his investigation into the source of the story.

Instead, Bezos bluffed and published what he claimed amounted to extortion.

In the chaotic fallout of this mess, AMI issued a public statement citing Sanchez as the sole source of both the tip and all material related to the story of his sister’s affair.

Sanchez has been stuck in a lawsuit over the case for nearly three years, during which he himself filed a failed lawsuit against Bezos.

Now lawyers for Lauren and Bezos have dismissed his latest attempt to have them both impeached as nothing more than an abusive ruse.

Neither Bezos nor Lauren, they claim, have knowledge of the source of the story and thus cannot provide testimony that is in any way substantively new or relevant to Sanchez’s case.

In addition, Lauren’s lawyers point out, Sanchez “privately admitted to disclosing her private information to AMI.”

In a letter included in the court documents and dated February 2022, Lauren’s attorney Bird wrote, “There is no question that Ms. Sanchez shared information with Mr. Sanchez about her relationship with Mr. Bezos because she trusted him as her brother.

“Nor is it certain that Mr. Sanchez took that information and offered to sell it to the National Enquirer for $300,000 before eventually getting $200,000, all without Ms. Sanchez’s knowledge.”

Speaking to Sanchez’s attorneys, Bird added, “The tremendous damage done to Ms. Sanchez by your client’s deceitful betrayal cannot be easily put into words, but suffice it to say it was devastating.”

Bird went on to claim that with his legal filing, Sanchez, “Without even an ounce of self-reflection or shame … claimed that it was he who was manipulated, not his sister whose trust he betrayed, and that it was he who was the real victim.’

Lauren’s request for the subpoena to impeach her will be heard in California District Court on May 2.

For his part, Bezos filed a statement in August 2022 claiming, “I have no knowledge of any source or sources of information … for the reporting of National Enquirer stories or any information or materials provided to them for the stories.”

He added: “I have no first-hand knowledge of any hacking of my mobile phone by individuals from Saudi Arabia, other than information made public by the United Nations.”

He has filed his intent to overturn Sanchez’s subpoena to impeach him immediately after Lauren’s hearing is completed.