Gavin de Becker linked the hack to a broad coverage of Bezos-owned The Washington Post of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination at the kingdom consulate last year in Istanbul. “With the highest confidence of our investigators and various experts, Saudis have had access to Bezos ‘ phone and have gathered private information,” Becker wrote on the website of The Daily Beast. He said that while Bezos ‘ brother was paid for the information by the National Enquirer’s scandal sheet, his role may have been red herring, and that the plot goes beyond the scope of a single man who seeks to cash in. “It is obvious that MBS considers the Washington Post as a major enemy,” de Becker wrote, referring to a powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of the oil-rich Kingdom, whose murder was referred to as’ responsible’ by the US Senate after a closed door briefing by CIA. But de Becker did not specify which section of the Saudi government he blamed for hacking, and gave little details about the investigation which led him to conclude that the Kingdom is responsible. Saudi Arabia stresses that Khashoggi, a columnist contributing to the post, was not killed by the Crown Prince. Initially, Riyadh said she knew nothing of her fate, but later blamed rogue agents for the assassination.
