The Jeff Bezos affair was leaked by his mistress' brother, CNN confirms. A motive is still elusive.

Lauren Sanchez in 2012
(Image credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

The person who told the National Enquirer about the extramarital affair between Amazon chief Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez was Michael Sanchez, Lauren's brother, CNN said Wednesday night, citing two people with with knowledge of the matter. The Daily Beast first fingered Michael Sanchez as the leaker on Sunday, citing sources at American Media Inc., the Enquirer's publisher, and The Associated Press reported Tuesday that investigators working for Bezos had concluded that Sanchez gave the Enquirer intimate text messages between his sister and Bezos.

Sanchez declined to comment on the record for CNN, but he told the network Tuesday he'd "been told that the Amazon investigation determined that I was not involved in the leak of the d-ck pics, because I never had access to any of the d-ck pics." He previously told The Washington Post he played no role in leaking details about the relationship to the Enquirer, though he has acknowledged being friends with Dylan Howard, an AMI executive whose byline is on the Enquirer's Bezos affair story and who threatened Bezos in writing by describing intimate selfies the Enquirer held.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.