Amazon AWS plans to depose Trump, Esper, Mattis, others after $10 Billion Pentagon JEDI contract loss
In new court filings, AWS (Amazon Web Services) claims it wants to depose Donald Trump about his involvement in the JEDI bidding process, and "efforts to harm Amazon or AWS." The lawsuit filed by Amazon's cloud computing division cites a history of the president's public attacks of Amazon, including allegations he told Mattis to "screw Amazon" out of the deal.
As covered here on Boing Boing last November, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was none too happy about the matter.
From CNBC:
Amazon is seeking to depose President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis over a $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract awarded to Microsoft.
In court documents unsealed and filed Monday, Amazon's cloud computing arm said it's looking to depose seven "individuals who were instrumental" in the JEDI source selection and "played pivotal roles" in the ultimate awarding of the contract. Aside from Trump, Mattis and Esper, Amazon Web Services is also seeking to depose the Defense Department's chief information officer, Dana Deasy, and the source selection authority, which awarded the contract to Microsoft, as well as the chairpersons of the SSA, according to the documents.
A spokesperson for AWS told CNBC in a statement: "President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as President and Commander in Chief to interfere with government functions - including federal procurements - to advance his personal agenda. The preservation of public confidence in the nation's procurement process requires discovery and supplementation of the administrative record, particularly in light of President Trump's order to 'screw Amazon.' The question is whether the President of the United States should be allowed to use the budget of the DoD to pursue his own personal and political ends."
Read more:
Amazon wants to question Trump after losing $10 billion Pentagon cloud contract
[CNBC, Mon, Feb 10 202010:15 AM EST, Amanda Macias, Ylan Mui, Annie Palmer, via techmeme]
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