Nicole Shanahan “offered The Washington Post $500,000 to reveal sources”

Former vice presidential candidate Nicole Shanahan allegedly offered a Washington Post reporter $500,000 in exchange for the names of sources who revealed information about her, the newspaper said.

According to the newspaper, Shanahan, the 39-year-old San Francisco Bay Area native and environmental advocate, was informed in June that The Washington Post was working on a long story that included explosive details about her marriage to ex-husband Sergey Brin.

In response, Shanahan “texted a staffer who had been contacted by the journalists” working on the article and suggested “a deal,” The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

As part of the agreement, the employee said that Shanahan would pay “your friend” – the reporter who contacted the employee – “half a million dollars to be a whistleblower” and reveal the sources Shanahan claimed they were false information about her, the newspaper says.

The employee then forwarded the offer to a Washington Post reporter, who did not respond, according to the newspaper.

It is unclear which reporter was offered the alleged deal.

Asked for comment on Wednesday, a Washington Post spokesperson referred to the story.

Brin, who filed for divorce from Shanahan in January 2022 after learning of an alleged affair with Tesla boss Elon Musk a month earlier, was married to Shanahan for five years.

Musk and Shanahan have vehemently denied having an affair.

The New York Post has reached out to Shanahan and Brin for comment.

According to the article, Shanahan told The Washington Post last week that she disputed aspects of the newspaper's reporting, adding: “I'm so sorry that you think it's appropriate to do this for political reasons.” Very sad state our country is in.”

Shanahan, the longtime Democrat who reportedly earned more than $1 billion as part of her divorce settlement with Google co-founder Brin, was chosen by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be his running mate before she dropped out of the race and dropped her support for former President Donald Trump.

Wednesday's Washington Post story cited several unnamed sources who commented on Shanahan's political transformation from a Silicon Valley Democratic supporter to a fixture at events announcing a second Trump term in the White House.

The story features the lines of four Washington Post journalists – Elizabeth Dwoskin, Ashley Parker, Meryl Kornfield and Aaron Schaffer.

The article also contains salacious details about her marriage to Brin and the tension 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 allegedly led to a strain in their friendship that went so far that the two Google co-founders stopped talking.

Shanahan also reportedly drove 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 friendly terms when they finalized their divorce in 2015.

According to the report, Wojcicki, co-founder and CEO of personal genetics company 23andMe, learned that Brin was having an extramarital affair with a junior Google employee.

Shanahan then entered into a relationship with Brin just as she was preparing to marry investor Jeremy Kranz, who then initiated the marriage just weeks after exchanging wedding vows.

According to the report, Brin began limiting his contacts with Wojcicki, his children and his family after he began his romance with Shanahan.

The Google co-founder reportedly skipped his younger brother's wedding rehearsal dinner.

Brin also reportedly “disappeared” at family events like his daughter's birthday because he was “very in the loop” when Shanahan was around, an unidentified person told The Washington Post.

According to the report, Brin and Shanahan's relationship began to unravel in the months following their wedding in 2018.

The two frequently argued over disagreements about work and travel.

According to the report, the final straw came in late 2021 when Brin found out about 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 gave Shanahan more than $1 billion.

But the tech mogul is said to be unhappy that she used the money to run for vice president.

“Sergey gave her money so that she wouldn’t do harmful things to him,” a person familiar with Brin’s thoughts told the newspaper.

“So now she’s doing harmful things to the country.”

The New York Post has reached out to Page and Wojcicki for comment.

Both declined to respond to The Washington Post story.