MBS Underestimated Jeff Bezos

We've been looking into MBS's relationship with Jeff Bezos for a few days – here's a thread describing the picture I can see so far. Perhaps MBS partially thought he could get away with killing Khashoggi because of this relationship. Read, then retweet.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

An important point to keep in mind, before I start: Dictators take things personally. They prefer to deal with personalities rather than institutions, and tend to be transactional in their dealings. Keep this in mind as you read the following.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Last October, as news of Jamal Khashoggi's brutal murder spread, many institutions and personalities that had links with MBS publicly denounced the murder and suspended their relations with the Saudi state. There was one notable exception: Jeff Bezos.https://t.co/2CTRnrFUS8

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

I'd imagine Bezos was in a bit of a bind – a "complexifier" as he described it. Amazon had been interested in the Saudi market for two years, an interest that had turned into multiple projects. But also, Bezos owned the Washington Post, for which Jamal worked.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Things were far more sensitive for Bezos than for others. If Bezos speaks out for Jamal, then it'll seem that he's assuming some ownership for the Washington Post's "Justice for Jamal" campaign. It'll seem that he's another voice for the campaign.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Bezos clearly doesn't want that. It's clear (to me at least) that he respects the @washingtonpost's independence, treating it as an institution, not as just another business. These words from his bombshell Medium post come across as sincere. pic.twitter.com/qeLKZKJgKg

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

In his post, Bezos notes that "certain powerful people who experience Washington Post news coverage will wrongly conclude I am their enemy". Bezos is obviously saying, don't take this personally. But just as obviously, someone did. pic.twitter.com/QI1xdKOX5R

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

In the aftermath of Jamal's murder, Bezos stood apart from the Washington Post and did not wade into the Khashoggi affair – not commenting on the murder, but also not curbing the Washington Post in any way. Someone saw this as an act of betrayal. Mohammad bin Salman.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

But let me backtrack first and give you a timeline of Bezos's business interest in Saudi Arabia, in three coming tweets:

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

In early 2017, Amazon acquired UAE-based Souq dot com, "The Amazon of the Middle East". But Amazon's main business interest seems to have been cloud computing – by September 2017 they were looking to establish a regional center in Bahrain.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

By December 2017 Amazon was in talks with Saudi Arabia for investments in the country; the Saudis seemed most interested in three areas: First, AWS setting up data centers in the country; second, making Saudi Arabia an e-commerce and logistics hub…

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

…And third, perhaps the richest man in the world can also find other investment opportunities in the liberalizing country? Vision 2030 advertised – and required – an almost insatiable appetite for private sector investments, and rich investors.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

(There's some very important comments to be made about the data centers and the e-commerce hub bits, and why MBS would be *particularly* interested in that, but I'll keep it for another thread).

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

So when Bezos and MBS met in person in March 2018, there was already a business relationship between Amazon and Saudi Arabia, and lots of further interest. The meeting was planned well in advance. It seems to have been a warm meeting – look at the smiles.https://t.co/vHiZosB9vU

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Now fast forward to October, Khashoggi's murder. Bezos is in a bind. MBS is a man he knows personally at this point. He doesn't want to seem to have joined the Washington Post's crusade, but also doesn't want to curb the Washington Post. What was MBS thinking, though?

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

We got part of the answer in November, when Saudi social media accounts controlled directly by MBS's close associates launched a campaign against Jeff Bezos. Hashtags included "Boycott Amazon" and the more specific "The owner of Amazon is attacking Saudi Arabia".

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Here's one of the videos, titled "The owner of Amazon and Souq dot com attacks Saudi Arabia". Dated 21 November 2018. pic.twitter.com/icEjRmHoZo

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

The commentary is even more telling. "I never saw a businessman whose blind hatred and spite leads him to harm his own business interests – but that's Jeff Bezos, whose Washington Post is smearing Saudi Arabia".https://t.co/jTBs5RupaQ

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

The average Saudi didn't even know who Jeff Bezos was, so they even had videos explaining that, such as this one: pic.twitter.com/YBBzkGExVY

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

The accompanying tweet described Bezos as being: "Specialized in smearing our kingdom; gave the Houthis a platform to write articles against us; and attacked the [Future Investment Initiative] conference in Riyadh". Someone really took it personally. https://t.co/1sIeQBpBgt

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

So interestingly, while Bezos opted to remain silent on Khashoggi given his "complex" situation – it was the Saudis who launched an all-out attack on him first, accusing him of weaponizing the Washington Post against them. Thanks to @Ana3rabeya for finding the above tweets.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

I remind again that these social media accounts are *not* independent. They are centrally directed and controlled by MBS and his close advisers. Analyzing their tweets is among the best ways to figure out what MBS and his close advisers are thinking.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Given this picture, I'm willing to bet that:
1. MBS thought that his relationship with Bezos – and Bezos's business interests – could get Bezos to curb the Washington Post's reporting on Jamal
2. MBS felt betrayed – and angry – when Bezos didn't, and sought to punish him.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

And maybe – just maybe – MBS felt that his links with Bezos would allow him to kill a Washington Post reporter without incident – thinking that Bezos won't risk his extensive business interests, and would intervene into the Washington Post to get them to lay it off.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

We then fast forward from November to now – and the Bezos blackmail scandal. MBS had both the means and the motive to target Bezos. The extramarital affair – and MBS's relationship with David Pecker – may have given him the opportunity.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

That's our thread. Our other threads on the Bezos blackmail scandal, first here:https://t.co/0XVzYIR0W4

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

Then here: https://t.co/mKLwFEwNgO

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019

And if you appreciate our work and would like to see it continue, please support my tiny but relentless team. Make a donation on Patreon: https://t.co/HgUer0dnQ5

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 10, 2019


 

New thread: I'm posting updates and explainers about this earlier thread, below. Think of it as version 2.0.https://t.co/0XVzYIR0W4

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Let me start by reminding that Bezos pointed to a Saudi connection. I want to emphasize this again – he said that AMI's David Pecker *specifically* went bonkers when he knew that investigators were looking into the Saudi connection. pic.twitter.com/rmfoTsGR7n

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

AMI didn't just ask Bezos to stop his investigation – they wanted him to publicly say that AMI had *no political motives*. The very fact that they want that is practically proof that they *did* have political motives. On behalf of whom, though? https://t.co/eOUp262Fzg

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

AMI didn't just ask Bezos to stop his investigation – they wanted him to publicly say that AMI had *no political motives*. The very fact that they want that is practically proof that they *did* have political motives. On behalf of whom, though? https://t.co/eOUp262Fzg

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Here's my point: I do NOT think this was done on behalf of Trump, and I think those chasing a direct Trump connection are going down the wrong alley. Trump is an enabler for sure, but my hunch is that the impetus behind this wasn't Trump, it was the Saudi regime.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Bezos's @Medium post mentions that AMI were already investigated "for various actions they’ve taken on behalf of the Saudi Government"; he also links to material about the "mystery magazine" from 2018. Lemme add a few words on that first.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

The "mystery magazine" appeared on American shelves in March 2018 – it was basically 100 pages of praising MBS. An MBS promotional brochure. Here's some additional details in two tweets: pic.twitter.com/iVYfm8Im4B

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

200,000 copies were distributed. There were no ads. AMI somehow sunk money to print & distribute this, but claimed the Saudis neither paid them to produce the magazine, nor directed them on its production, and that they didn't share it with the Saudis ahead of time.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

However we know that at least the last of these statements is false. AP discovered that a PDF of the magazine was shared with the Saudis three weeks before it was published, who in turn shared it with their DC contacts. https://t.co/SJX3DHpA5x

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Incidentally even the State Department gave shady answers when asked about the magazine's origin. It's remarkable that reporters even had to ask the State Department if it had a role in this! https://t.co/AxuQ1BlTAY pic.twitter.com/tXwKivE9Tp

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Whatever the case, shortly after the magazine incident, the NYT reported that Pecker had, the previous year, received help from Trump to woo the Saudis. The timeline they uncovered is summarized in the next two tweets. https://t.co/H26nHida7r

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

In July 2017, Trump introduced Pecker to Kacy Grine, a Saudi-linked French businessman. In September 2017, Pecker traveled to Saudi Arabia and had a joint meeting with Grine and… MBS. By January 2018, Pecker tried to use Saudi money to buy Time magazine.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Then in March 2018, during MBS's visit to the US, Pecker was at several of the events. So what happens between January and March? Well in February, AMI created that magazine and shared it with the Saudis. In March it was published, all 200,000 copies of it.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

(Btw, owning Time magazine is an old dream for Pecker, and Trump knows it. This is a Trump tweet from 2013.) https://t.co/kxwxHTEOmh

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Anyway: Some have speculated that AMI is in trouble coz they didn't fully disclose to US prosecutors the deal with this magazine. But I don't think that's the case – prosecutors probably already know everything about that. https://t.co/xuIcUu4byv

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

It seems more likely that AMI is in trouble because they have committed *new* crimes (rather than not fully disclosing old ones), and that the Bezos hack was politically motivated, and that the impetus behind it wasn't Trumpt – but Saudi Arabia.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

The above is more than just a wild theory at this point. Earlier today, ex-CIA chief John Brennan gave this statement to MSNBC: pic.twitter.com/hFejNnA29G

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

And this is @tribelaw from Harvard Law School weighing in.https://t.co/mDfhlrcujJ

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Attempting to extort a thing of value out of an individual through threats of reputation damage is a crime. Is a public statement from Bezos "a thing of value"? Well it obviously is to AMI, if they went that far to get one. https://t.co/sdLqbF2lhl

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Some have commented about the audacity of hacking & blackmailing Bezos and whether it's "crazy". It's only crazy because it's Bezos. Dictators (including our dictators) have been doing this (hacking & blackmailing their opponents) for years.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

.@Zeynep explains it well. The target isn't only the person whose information is leaked, but also his/her family. The message is "Do the right thing, protect your family, cooperate". They even try to blackmail activists into becoming their spies. https://t.co/UrtEvCeaSQ

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Understand this: Dictatorial regimes are *not* built on institutions. They are basically personal networks disguised as institutions. If that reminds you of Trump, nicely spotted. Dictators normally have ego problems and *absolutely* take things personally.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

So is it so crazy that they'll hack someone's phone and try to blackmail them? No it's not, it's standard practice. Is it crazy they'll try this on the richest* man on earth? Yes absolutely. That's the crazy part, that they'd try it on Bezos.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

*Bezos is likely not the richest man on earth. You see, Bezos has to file taxes etc so has to declare his income. The richest man on earth is likely a dictator who's completely unaccountable and doesn't have to reveal his wealth.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

On the question of the hacking capabilities of the Saudi regime, there are lots of articles and links to read – here's one. They have previously used Israeli software to hack the phones of activists (this helped them spy on Khashoggi): https://t.co/ssdCTWm4bx

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

Some have asked whether, maybe, Bezos's ex-girlfriend was planted, and it was she who leaked the photos. Interesting theory, but I don't buy it. Bezos didn't become the richest man in the world by being this naive. Don't think it could have been that easy. https://t.co/zHKCjwRVRV

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

About the Saudi whistle blower – he told me that MBS had a "hit list" of dissidents to go after, Khashoggi was on top of that list. After the murder, MBS came up with a new list of his enemies in global media – the @washingtonpost was on top of that list.

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

More later – we've only scratched the surface. But before I go – please make a donation to my team! The easiest way is to join our @Patreon, here: https://t.co/HgUer0dnQ5

— İyad el-Baghdadi | إياد البغدادي (@iyad_elbaghdadi) February 9, 2019

 


 

I connected the dots between the Saudis' hacking skills, the National Enquirer and its ties to Trump and MBS, Bezos and the possible connection to Khashoggi's murder and POTUS 45's 2016 election. This is about A LOT more than a selfie. My new column https://t.co/qWJCgfEChZ

— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) February 10, 2019

 more

 


 

“We warn against any attempt to link Khashoggi’s crime to our leadership.”
Who’s attempted such a link? The Post. Who owns the Post? Bezos. Who had the ability to hack Bezos and a connection to AMI? The Saudis. Who’s conspired with both the Saudis and AMI and hates Bezos? Trump. https://t.co/t3hFujveZp

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) February 9, 2019

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