In a post on Medium, Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos accused the National Enquirer of extortion. Extortion, and wrongful coercion, is a crime in many states, including New York and California, and it is also a federal crime under certain circumstances. Threatening to physically harm someone or their loved ones unless they comply with a demand is extortion. But another species of extortion, blackmail, involves threatening to reveal damaging or embarrassing information about someone unless they comply with a demand. Which leads us to the email chain with the Enquirer that Bezos published yesterday.

Source: Forbes February 08, 2019 21:13 UTC