Former vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan allegedly offered a reporter for The Washington Post $500,000 in exchange for the names of sources who were leaking information about her, according to the newspaper.
Shanahan, a 39-year-old San Francisco Bay Area native and environmental lawyer, was informed in June that The Washington Post was working on a longer story involving Explosive details about her marriage to ex-husband Sergey BrinAccording to the paper.
In response, Shanahan “sent a message to an associate who was contacted.” The Washington Post reported Wednesday that journalists working on this story suggested “a compromise.”
As part of the arrangement, the aide said that Shanahan would “pay your friend” – the reporter who had contacted the aide – “half a million dollars to be the whistleblower” and would out the sources that Shanahan claimed. He was spreading wrong information about her. , according to the paper.
According to the newspaper, the aide made the offer to a Washington Post reporter, who did not respond.
It is unclear which reporter was offered the alleged deal.
Asked for comment Wednesday, a Washington Post spokesperson referred the story to The Post.
brin, Who filed for divorce from Shanahan After January 2022 learning about an alleged relationship he had Tesla CEO Elon Musk a month agoWas married to Shanahan for five years.
musk and shanahan vehemently denied any affair,
The New York Post has asked Shanahan and Brin for comment.
According to the article, Shanahan told The Washington Post last week that he disputed aspects of the newspaper’s reporting, adding: “I’m sorry that you think it’s appropriate to do this for political motivations. This is a very sad situation in our country.”
Shanahan, long time democrat Who reportedly walked away with more than $1 billion as part of her divorce settlement with Google co-founder Brin, Was tapped by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. before dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump to become his running mate.
The Washington Post’s story on Wednesday cited multiple unnamed sources who reflected on Shanahan’s political transformation from a Silicon Valley Democrat supporter at events announcing Trump’s second term in the White House.
The story includes bylines from four Washington Post reporters — Elizabeth Dwoskin, Ashley Parker, Merrill Kornfield and Aaron Schaefer.
The article also includes salacious details about her marriage to Brin and the tensions the relationship allegedly caused within the tech mogul’s family, as well as the impact it had on her relationship with Google co-founder Larry Page. .
According to The Washington Post, Page disapproved of Brin’s relationship with Shanahan, which reportedly strained their friendship to the point that the two Google co-founders stopped speaking.
It was also reported that Shanahan had caused a rift between Brin and his two children from his first marriage to tech entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki.
According to the article, Brin and Wojcicki were on amicable terms when they finalized their divorce in 2015.
According to the report, Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of personal genetics firm 23andMe, learned that Brin was having an extramarital affair with a young Google employee.
While she was preparing to marry investor Jeremy Kranz, Shanahan struck up a relationship with Brin, leading to the annual nuptials just weeks after exchanging wedding vows.
According to the report, Brin began limiting her contact with Wojcicki, their children, and her family after she began a romance with Shanahan.
It is reported that the Google co-founder did not attend the rehearsal dinner for his younger brother’s wedding.
An unidentified person told The Washington Post that Brin was also reported to have “disappeared” from family events such as his daughter’s birthday because he was “too close to the clock” when Shanahan was around.
According to the report, Brin and Shanahan’s relationship began to unravel in the months following their marriage in 2018.
There were frequent fights between the two due to disagreements regarding work and travel.
According to the report, the final blow came in late 2021, when Brin became aware of her alleged extramarital affair with Musk.
Brin’s divorce from Shanahan was finalized in May last year.
According to The Washington Post, Brin agreed to a divorce settlement that paid Shanahan more than $1 billion.
But the tech mogul is said to be unhappy that he used the money to contest the vice-presidential election.
A person familiar with Brin’s thinking told the newspaper, “Sergei gave him money so he wouldn’t do things harmful to him.”
“So now she is doing something harmful to the country.”
The New York Post has asked Page and Wojcicki for comment.
Both of them declined to comment on The Washington Post’s story.
