Amazon, its CEO Jeff Bezos and The Washington
Post, which Bezos owns. Amazon said Trump is
the only one who can testify about the “totality
of his conversations and the overall message he
conveyed” about the bidding process.
Trump has accused Amazon of not paying its fair
share of taxes and of putting brick-and-mortar
stores out of business. Trump has also gone after
Bezos personally and accused the Post of being
Amazon’s “chief lobbyist.”
The White House and Justice Department
declined comment. The Defense Department
said it “strongly opposes” Amazon’s request to
depose senior military leaders.
“The request is unnecessary, burdensome and
merely seeks to delay getting this important
technology into the hands of our warfighters,”
Lt. Col. Robert Carver, a Pentagon spokesman,
said in an email.
A judge is expected to decide as early as this
week on whether Microsoft can start working
with the Pentagon on the cloud computing
project. Amazon has asked for work to be halted
as its lawsuit proceeds.
Amazon said in a statement that it’s important
to discover what happened to preserve public
confidence in the procurement process
because Trump has repeatedly demonstrated
his willingness to interfere with government
processes to advance his personal interests.
“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,” the company said.