Amazon was reported to the DOJ for possible criminal obstruction of Congress

Amazon Seller Store Image Credit

Amazon was reported to the DOJ for possible criminal obstruction of Congress. According to a House Committee, Amazon is being investigated by the Department of Justice for what lawmakers believe to be illegal obstruction of Congress.

In a letter written to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday, a bipartisan group of senators said that Amazon regularly misled the House Judiciary Committee during a 16-month investigation into Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook's competitive practices.

Amazon's private-label activities, in particular, have drawn the attention of politicians, as has the company's acquisition of third-party supplier data. According to the 24-page letter, lawmakers believe Amazon made false and misleading assertions to the House Committee regarding its procedures, then failed to turn over data that would "either support its claims or correct the record."

"It appears to have done so in order to conceal the truth about its use of third-party sellers' data to benefit its private-label business and it's referencing of private-label products in search results — subjects of the Committee's investigation," according to the letter, which was signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., House Antitrust Subcommittee chair David Cicilline, D-R.I., and committee members Reps.

"As a result," the letter added, "we have no choice but to report this matter to the Department of Justice to examine whether Amazon and its executives impeded Congress in violation of applicable federal law."

During the probe, Amazon executives defended the company's business operations in a series of hearings. In July 2019, an Amazon executive testified that the business does not utilize individual seller data to inform its strategy, but that it does use gathered information.

During testimony in July 2020, Amazon founder and then-CEO Jeff Bezos stated that the business has a policy that protects seller data from employee access, but he couldn't promise that the policy was never breached.

Lawmakers highlighted "serious investigative reporting" from Reuters, The Markup, The Wall Street Journal, and others that clearly challenged Bezos and other Amazon executives' testimony. According to the letter, the committee's inquiry uncovered comparable evidence from former Amazon employees as well as current and past vendors.

Throughout the sessions, lawmakers have accused Amazon of lying to Congress. "Amazon sought to cover up its falsehood by presenting ever-shifting justifications" of its seller data policy, they said as the committee resumed their inquiry. Attempts to learn more about Amazon's business operations were then "stonewalled" by the company.

"It must be held accountable for this," the lawmakers stated in the letter.

Amazon representatives did not respond to a request for comment right away. Amazon and its executives have already denied deceiving the committee.

cnbc