White House Takes Reports About Saudis Hacking Amazon Chief's Phone Seriously - Spokesman

White House Takes Reports About Saudis Hacking Amazon Chief's Phone Seriously - Spokesman

The Trump administration is taking reports claiming that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman played a role in the hacking of Washington Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' phone seriously, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters on Thursday

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd January, 2020) The Trump administration is taking reports claiming that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman played a role in the hacking of Washington Post owner and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' phone seriously, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters on Thursday.

"Saudi Arabia is obviously an important ally. I'm aware of the reports... I don't have any more information than that. Obviously we take this situation seriously," Gidley said.

On Wednesday, the Guardian reported that Bezos' telephone was hacked in 2018 after he received a message via Whatsapp from bin Salman that contained a malicious file. The incident came about five months before a Washington Post journalist was murdered after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October of 2018.

US Senator Chris Murphy after the report surfaced vowed to contact the heads of US intelligence agencies to investigate if Saudi officials illegally accessed Bezos' telephone as well as the devices of other US citizens.

On Thursday, the FBI said it would not comment on whether the agency will open a probe into the allegations.

The Washington Post did not answer Sputnik as to whether the newspaper considers the incident to be an attempt to exert pressure to stop coverage of the murder of columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, has denied any wrongdoing.

Khashoggi went missing in October 2018 after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Riyadh initially denied any knowledge of Khashoggi's whereabouts, but eventually admitted the columnist was killed and dismembered inside the diplomatic facility.

Saudi authorities have charged 11 people in the Khashoggi murder case.