Revealed: the Saudi heir and the alleged plot to undermine Jeff Bezos

[arenean]

Apparent targeting of Amazon billionaire’s phone fits into broader pattern of behaviour by Saudi Arabia (The Guardian)

"According to a New York Times report in 2019, MBS was growing “increasingly alarmed” by Khashoggi’s criticisms during this period.

In September 2017, just as Khashoggi wrote that Saudi Arabia was becoming “unbearable” because of its repression, the young prince privately told an aide that he would use a “bullet” on Khashoggi, according to current and former US and foreign officials cited by the New York Times. At nearly the same time, the crown prince was developing a relationship with a different American publisher who would print a far more flattering portrait of the Saudi heir.

According to the New York Times, in September 2017, MBS met David Pecker, the chief executive of American Media Inc (AMI), the owner of the National Enquirer supermarket tabloid, in Saudi Arabia. Pecker is an important player in Washington. Two months earlier he had had a private dinner with Donald Trump in the White House. Among the other guests was Kacy Grine, a financier who reportedly served as an advisor to Saudi royals.

Pecker and Trump were longtime allies. A Department of Justice investigation would later reveal that Pecker had played a critical role in helping the Trump campaign to “kill” negative stories about the then-candidate’s extramarital affairs and pay hush money to women who were interested in telling their stories."

Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/21/revealed-the-saudi-heir-and-the-alleged-plot-to-undermine-jeff-bezos

[empedocles]

1. Bunch more dots that seem to fit

Sort of sophisticated technology, utilized by primitives such as trump, MBS, and, well, 'pecker'.