Former vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan allegedly offered a Washington Post reporter $500,000 in exchange for the names of sources who leaked information about her, according to the newspaper.
Shanahan, a 39-year-old San Francisco Bay Area environmental lawyer, was tipped off in June that the Washington Post was working on a long story that included explosive details about her marriage to ex-husband Sergey Brin, according to the paper.
In response, Shanahan “texted an associate who had been contacted” by reporters working on the story and suggested “a deal,” the Washington Post reported Wednesday.
As part of the deal, the aide said, Shanahan “would pay your friend” — the reporter who contacted the aide — “half a million dollars to be a whistleblower” and the sources who were spreading what Shanahan claimed was false information about him . , according to the newspaper.
The associate relayed the offer to a Washington Post reporter, who did not respond, according to the paper.
It is unclear which journalist was offered the alleged deal.
Asked for comment Wednesday, a Washington Post spokesman returned the story to The Post.
Brin, who filed for divorce from Shanahan in January 2022 after learning of an alleged affair she had with Tesla CEO Elon Musk a month earlier, was married to Shanahan for five years.
Musk and Shanahan have vehemently denied an affair.
The New York Post has sought comment from Shanahan and Brin.
According to the article, Shanahan told the Washington Post last week that she objected to aspects of the paper’s reporting, adding: “I’m very sorry that you feel it’s appropriate to do this for political reasons. It’s a very sad state our country is in.”
Shanahan, a longtime Democrat who reportedly walked away with more than $1 billion as part of her divorce settlement with Google co-founder Brin, was appointed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his running mate before dropping out of the race and throwing his support behind former President Donald Trump.
Wednesday’s Washington Post story cited several unnamed sources who weighed in on Shanahan’s political transformation from a Silicon Valley Democratic supporter to a contender in events that claim a second Trump term in the White House.
The story features the signatures of four Washington Post reporters: Elizabeth Dwoskin, Ashley Parker, Meryl Kornfield and Aaron Schaffer.
The article also includes unsavory details about her marriage to Brin and the strain the union allegedly caused within the tech mogul’s family, as well as the impact it had on his relationship with Google co-founder Larry Page.
According to the Washington Post, Page disapproved of Brin’s relationship with Shanahan, which reportedly caused a strain in their friendship to the point that the two Google co-founders stopped speaking.
Shanahan has also reportedly driven a wedge 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.
Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of personal genetics firm 23andMe, learned that Brin had had an extramarital affair with a younger Google employee, according to the report.
Shanahan then struck up an affair with Bri just as she was preparing to marry investor Jeremy Kranz, who then moved to annul the marriage just weeks after exchanging wedding vows.
According to the report, Brin began limiting his contact with Wojcicki, his children and his family after he began his romance with Shanahan.
The Google co-founder reportedly skipped the rehearsal dinner for his younger brother’s wedding.
Brin also reportedly “disappeared” from family events like his daughter’s birthday because he was “very on schedule” when Shanahan was around, an unnamed individual told the Washington Post.
According to the report, Brin and Shanahan’s relationship began to unravel in the months following their 2018 wedding.
The two often fought over disagreements about work and travel.
According to the report, the tipping point came in late 2021, when Brin learned of her alleged extramarital affair with Musk.
Brin’s divorce from Shanahan was finalized in May of last year.
According to the Washington Post, Brin agreed to a divorce settlement that paid Shanahan over $1 billion.
But the tech mogul is said to be unhappy that he used the money to run for vice president.
“Sergey gave her money so she wouldn’t do harmful things to him,” a person familiar with Brin’s thinking told the paper.
“So now she’s doing things that are harmful to the country.”
The New York Post has sought comment from Page and Wojcicki.
They both declined to respond to the Washington Post story.
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