Amazon Slams Trump Administration As 'Increasingly Corrupt' In Lawsuit Against Pentagon

Amazon.com slammed the Trump administration for creating an “increasingly corrupt environment” after the Pentagon awarded a cloud computing contract to Microsoft.

In a court filing on Tuesday, Amazon Web Services (AWS) said political interference influenced the Pentagon’s decision to award its $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft. Upholding that decision, the filing stated, is “the product of an increasingly corrupt environment under the Trump administration.”

The project would involve storing and managing sensitive information, including military and defense data.

“The award to Microsoft must be invalidated because it is the product of systematic bias, bad faith, and undue influence exerted by President Trump to steer the award away from Amazon,” the court filing read, according to Reuters.

In March, the Pentagon said it would reconsider its decision to award the $10 billion contract to Microsoft. However, the Department of Defense stood by its decision after conducting a “comprehensive re-evaluation of proposals.”

Department of Defense Inspector General (DoDIG) also claimed it found no evidence of political interference in the awarding process. However, the Inspector General also said that it couldn’t thoroughly investigate whether Trump had any role in the process.

“We could not review this matter fully because of the assertion of a 'presidential communications privilege,' which resulted in several DoD witnesses being instructed by the DoD Office of General Counsel not to answer our questions about potential communications between White House and DoD officials about JEDI,” the report said.

The White House would reportedly allow witnesses to answer the inspector general’s questions, but the responses would have to be reviewed and approved by the administration.

Microsoft’s win of the JEDI contract was an upset. Many saw AWS as the frontrunner during the bidding process. The company, led by Jeff Bezos, had bid tens of millions of dollars lower than its competitor.

Amazon also alleged that Microsoft did not meet the “Price Scenario 6,” which required the company’s online storage to be “highly accessible.”

“The fact that correcting just one error can move the needle that substantially demonstrates why it's important that the DoD fix all of the evaluation errors that remain unaddressed, and ensure they are getting access to the best technology at the best price,” an Amazon spokesperson said.