EXCLUSIVE: Lauren Sanchez and Jeff Bezos WON'T be deposed by her brother - who tipped off National Enquirer about their affair - in his defamation case after judge slams hisrequest as a 'fishing expedition'
- Judge Pedro Castillo on Monday quashed Michael Sanchez's subpoena to depose sister Lauren and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos in his defamation case
- A court order obtained by DailyMail.com shows the judge said the request amounts 'to little more than a fishing expedition' and would be 'burdensome'
- It comes after Lauren, 53, last month filed papers opposing the motion filed by Michael, who was a source for the National Enquirer story about her affair
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez can ignore subpoenas from her brother Michael, a federal judge has ruled.
Hollywood agent Michael Sanchez was trying to depose the couple and pry documents from them in an attempt to prove he was not the only source for a story in the National Enquirer that revealed their steamy affair.
The bid was part of Michael's defamation lawsuit against American Media Inc, the publisher of the tabloid magazine, who he accuses of falsely casting him as the sole leaker of the affair, for which he was allegedly paid $200,000.
![Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez will not have to respond to her brother's subpoenas to depose them in his defamation case against American Media Inc, a judge ruled on Monday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/10/22/70834243-12069763-Jeff_Bezos_and_Lauren_Sanchez_will_not_have_to_respond_to_her_br-a-7_1683752550731.jpg)
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez will not have to respond to her brother's subpoenas to depose them in his defamation case against American Media Inc, a judge ruled on Monday
![Michael Sanchez has accused AMI of defaming him when they named him as the 'sole source' of the tip that led to the bombshell tabloid story in 2019](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/22/69754129-11965601-Michael_Sanchez_has_accused_AMI_of_defaming_him_when_they_named_-a-24_1681333539885.jpg)
![Lauren and Michael Sanchez with their mother Eleanor](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/22/69758349-11965601-Lauren_and_Michael_Sanchez_with_their_mother_Eleanor-a-26_1681333539888.jpg)
Michael Sanchez - pictured right with his sister and their mother Eleanor – has accused AMI of defaming him when it named him as the 'sole source' of the tip that led to the bombshell National Enquirer of the couple's affair in 2019. He was seeking to depose his sister and Bezos in his case
![Following the fallout over The National Enquirer's story of the affair in January 2019, the tabloid's publisher AMI made a public statement naming Sanchez as the sole source of the tip](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/22/69758439-11965601-Following_the_fallout_over_The_National_Enquirer_s_story_of_the_-a-27_1681333540025.jpg)
Following the fallout over The National Enquirer's story of the affair in January 2019, the tabloid's publisher AMI made a public statement naming Sanchez as the sole source of the tip
But in a damning ruling in a California federal court on Monday, US Magistrate Judge Pedro Castillo slapped down Michael's subpoenas to his sister and her lover, calling it 'little more than a fishing expedition'.
The ruling leaves Michael in an increasingly desperate position, after partial or complete defeats in several other lawsuits around the affair scandal and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills.
The brother of the former LA Fox anchor has already been forced to admit under oath that he was a source of racy texts and 10 'pornographic' pictures including a 'below-the-belt selfie' sent by Bezos to Sanchez, and later leaked to the Enquirer.
'Even though Plaintiff argues that he did not provide any racy or explicit photographs to AMI, the evidence is uncontroverted that he in fact did so,' the court ruled in July 2021.
The judge added in his ruling on Monday: 'The only surviving issue on Plaintiff's defamation claim is whether he was AMI's only source.'
Michael sent his sister and the Amazon billionaire legal demands to sit for an on-camera deposition and to divulge documents and communications about who they shared their sordid sexts with, in an attempt to find the Enquirer's alleged second source.
![In a court order handed down Monday, the judge ruled that the information Michael sought in the subpoenas is 'not relevant' to his defamation claim](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/10/22/70837015-12069763-In_a_court_order_handed_down_Monday_the_judge_ruled_that_the_inf-a-9_1683752550999.jpg)
In a court order handed down Monday, the judge ruled that the information Michael sought in the subpoenas is 'not relevant' to his defamation claim
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/10/22/70837055-12069763-image-a-11_1683752551118.jpg)
![The ruling leaves Michael in an increasingly desperate position, after partial or complete defeats in several other lawsuits around the affair scandal](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/10/22/70837067-12069763-The_ruling_leaves_Michael_in_an_increasingly_desperate_position_-a-10_1683752551048.jpg)
The ruling leaves Michael in an increasingly desperate position, after partial or complete defeats in several other lawsuits around the affair scandal
Bezos, the world's third richest man, argued the subpoenas were 'part of a vendetta against him, to be used in support of any supplemental monetary demand [Michael] may attempt to make,' and that he had 'no knowledge regarding AMI's sources', while Sanchez argued the depositions would be an invasion of privacy.
Judge Castillo sided with the couple in his 33-page ruling he released Monday.
'The request for information on this topic from these witnesses – the victims of the public disclosure of their private affair – amounts at best to little more than a fishing expedition for second- or third-hand knowledge or unfettered speculation,' he wrote.
'Information about mere 'access' to Ms. Sanchez's or Mr. Bezos's cell phone or other electronic device is irrelevant because it says nothing at all about whether anyone other than Plaintiff did in fact provide that information to AMI.
'AMI uniquely knows who its source or sources were, and is clearly in the best position to disclose that information.
'It would be unduly burdensome for Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Bezos to respond.'
Bezos claimed he was blackmailed by AMI over the story, and a grand jury was convened in the Southern District of New York to consider charges over the allegation.
Michael argued in his legal filings that Bezos must have looked into what the jury found, and so likely has information about AMI's sources for the affair story.
But Judge Castillo gave the argument short shrift.
![Lauren was married to Hollywood mega agent Patrick Whitesell (left) when she and Bezos started their affair. The three of them are pictured in 2016](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/22/69753709-11965601-Lauren_was_married_to_Hollywood_mega_agent_Patrick_Whitesell_lef-a-31_1681333540179.jpg)
Lauren was married to Hollywood mega agent Patrick Whitesell (left) when she and Bezos started their affair. The three of them are pictured in 2016
![In his ruling, Judge Pedro Castillo said it 'would be unduly burdensome for Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Bezos to respond' to Michael's subpoenas](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/22/69754021-11965601-In_a_letter_included_in_court_filings_and_dated_February_2022_La-a-28_1681333540164.jpg)
In his ruling, Judge Pedro Castillo said it 'would be unduly burdensome for Ms. Sanchez and Mr. Bezos to respond' to Michael's subpoenas
The disgraced Hollywood agent also sensationally claimed that Lauren's lawyer 'threatened for two and a half years to publicize falsely to the world that [Michael] sexually molested Ms. Sanchez when she was a minor,' according to the judge's ruling, though he did not discuss the claims further.
In a mysterious twist in the murky tale, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was labelled as another potential source for the raunchy texts and photos.
Bezos commissioned an investigation by cybersecurity expert Gavin de Becker, who claimed that the Saudis used an ultra-sophisticated hacking tool called Pegasus to infect the Amazon founder's iPhone X and monitor all his communications in 2017 and 2018 – during the period of the affair.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known by his initials MBS, was cast as an enemy of Bezos, after the Bezos-owned Washington Post accused the Arab royal of ordering the gruesome murder of one of its writers, Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, Turkey, in October 2018.
Before slapping down Michael's subpoena requests to Bezos and his lover, Judge Castillo presented a damning list of the Hollywood agent's other courtroom defeats.
The Los Angeles Superior Court awarded Bezos $218,385 in fees and $36,019.26 in costs after Michael lost his defamation lawsuit against the Amazon founder in November 2020.
![Last month, filings obtained by DailyMail.com showed Lauren Sanchez's lawyers dismissed her brother's latest bid to have her and Bezos deposed as nothing but an abusive ruse](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/05/10/22/69758489-12069763-Last_month_filings_obtained_by_DailyMail_com_showed_Lauren_Sanch-a-8_1683752550790.jpg)
Last month, filings obtained by DailyMail.com showed Lauren Sanchez's lawyers dismissed her brother's latest bid to have her and Bezos deposed as nothing but an abusive ruse
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/21/69758469-11965601-image-m-160_1681331266199.jpg)
![](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/22/69758451-11965601-image-a-29_1681333540169.jpg)
Michael lost his appeal of the decision on April 10 this year and was hit with another bill for fees of $371,928.90.
In January 2023 Michael sued his sister and her law firm in the same court for 'civil extortion, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, and unjust enrichment.'
The LA court struck off all but the breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims – but warned Michael they were so vaguely argued that they 'likely fail to state a claim' and invited him to file amended legal documents.
Michael then sued his own lawyers, the first of three firms that have represented him in his federal defamation case against AMI, on April 19, 2023, accusing the attorney, Jonathan Jenkins, of 'sabotaging' his lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Jenkins wrote to Michael in an email: 'I am now convinced that the motive to depose Bezos in this action is improper.
'This is a legal proceeding against AMI, [its vice president Dylan] Howard, and [CEO David] Pecker, not a Bezos shakedown, and I cannot comply with a demand to issue a subpoena that I believe would be unethical.'
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