Amazon Lawsuit Advances, Alleges Trump’s Bias Affected the Company
An ongoing lawsuit pursued by Amazon against the US government and Microsoft will continue after a federal judge rejected a motion to dismiss the case. The suit concerns Microsoft’s success in securing the $10 billion JEDI cloud computing contract with the Defense Department — a decision that Amazon says was influenced by President Donald Trump’s dislike of the company and its CEO Jeff Bezos.
The decision, as reported by The Washington Post and Bloomberg News, means Amazon can now argue in front of a court that Trump himself and former defense secretary Jim Mattis should testify. A motion to dismiss the case was rejected by Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith on Wednesday April 28, though her full opinion was filed under seal.
Amazon and Microsoft are both industry leaders in the cloud computing market, but Amazon was seen as having the edge over its rival in securing the JEDI contract. When Microsoft was announced as the winner in October 2019, Amazon quickly objected, accusing President Trump of putting pressure on the government to pick Microsoft.
