Claim: Saudis Wiretapped Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos’s security consultant accused the Saudi government of gaining unauthorized access to the Amazon chief executive’s phone, as part of an effort to harm the world’s richest man, reports The NYTimes.

In an opinion article in The Daily Beast on Saturday, Gavin de Becker, Mr. Bezos’s security chief, alleged the Saudis wanted to hurt Mr. Bezos because he owns The Washington Post. The Post has aggressively reported on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, one of its columnists, who was killed last year in Turkey. United States officials have concluded Mr. Khashoggi, who was critical of Saudi leaders, was killed on the orders of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Mr. de Becker said he had turned over his findings about the Saudis and their role against Mr. Bezos to law enforcement.

“Our investigators and several experts concluded with high confidence that the Saudis had access to Bezos’ phone, and gained private information,” Mr. de Becker wrote.

Mr. de Becker’s claims about the Saudis are difficult to verify and raise many questions. Throughout his article, the security consultant was vague on details. He did not reveal direct evidence of his accusations and wrote that he would not speak again publicly on the issue.

Mr. de Becker’s allegations are the latest twist in a bizarre situation that has embroiled the largest U.S. tabloid publisher and Mr. Bezos, who runs Amazon and owns The Post. The unusual set of circumstances began in January, when Mr. Bezos announced that he and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, were divorcing. The next day, The National Enquirer published an exposé revealing that Mr. Bezos was romantically involved with Lauren Sanchez, a former Los Angeles TV anchor.

Then in February, Mr. Bezos published a post on Medium accusing the parent of The Enquirer, American Media Inc., of “extortion and blackmail.” Mr. Bezos said AMI had threatened to publish graphic photographs of him, including a “below-the-belt selfie,” if he did not publicly affirm that The Enquirer’s reporting on his affair was not motivated by political concerns. He said AMI, which has had ties to the Saudis, was “apoplectic” about The Post’s reporting on the Saudis.