Amazon and its executives potentially committed criminal obstruction of Congress, according to lawmakers.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources and a Wednesday letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, reported that bipartisan members on the House Judiciary Committee have asked the Justice Department to investigate Amazon.
The lawmakers accused the Big Tech company of refusing to provide information sought as part of an investigation by the panel’s Antitrust Subcommittee into Amazon’s competitive practices.
The company’s refusal was an attempt to cover up a lie Amazon executives told lawmakers about its treatment of external sellers on its platform, the letter said, WSJ reported.
At issue are responses to lawmakers’ inquiries about how Amazon uses the data of third-party sellers on its platform when creating private-label products, and how it treats those Amazon brands in its search results, WSJ said.
WSJ reported in April 2020 that Amazon employees routinely used such seller data to develop products for its own brands.
“Amazon repeatedly endeavored to thwart the Committee’s efforts to uncover the truth about Amazon’s business practices,” the lawmakers’ letter said, WSJ reported. “For this, it must be held accountable.”
The letter did not specify which Amazon individuals were being targeted.
Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos told the House Antitrust Committee in July 2020 that he couldn’t guarantee that its policy was always followed.
In October, lawmakers held out the threat of seeking a criminal investigation of Amazon, saying they’re giving the tech giant a “final chance” to correct previou
My stock just split 20 to one. I’ll cash out before they figure it out.