In the latest development in Amazon's bid to block Microsoft from working on the $10 billion cloud computing contract granted to it by the US Department of Defense, the e-commerce giant has now asked the federal court to grant it permission to get a testimony from US President Donald Trump.
Apart from Trump, Amazon is also asking the courts to allow it to get a testimony from US Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Amazon's court filings, which were unsealed on Monday, also revealed that the company is seeking to depose Defense Secretary James Mattis to find out everything he knows about Trump's sentiments regarding the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract.
What Amazon is asking is somewhat unprecedented given that they are seeking to depose a sitting US president over a contract dispute. Amazon does acknowledge this fact and stated that it was a "unique circumstance" that required the deposition.
Amazon argued that it was paramount that the Pentagon explains its decision to grant Microsoft the $10 billion contract despite leaving out "crucial information and details." The company further called the decision "flawed" and possibly even detrimental to the Department of Defense's future cloud infrastructure.
The court's decision over Amazon's motion to depose is expected to be made in the coming weeks. The courts have also yet to decide whether it would grant the company's request to block Microsoft from starting work on the JEDI contract.
In a separate statement, Amazon mentioned that Trump clearly made his intention of interfering with government functions by using his position as the President and Commander in Chief. This included interfering with federal procurements in line with his personal agenda. Amazon further claimed that Trump has made his opposition and adversity towards the company, hence his interfering with the deal.
Amazon further accused Trump of launching a "behind-the-scenes attack" against the company, leading it to publicly protest the JEDI contract. The Department of Defense contract was previously expected to go to Amazon given its experience in the cloud computing field and its standing relationship with the Department. The other companies that had expressed interest in bidding for the contract include Google, Microsoft, IBM, Rean Cloud, and Oracle. Google eventually dropped out from the bidding, stating that the contract itself was against its corporate values.
In August last year, just weeks before the contract was to be given to Amazon, Trump had ordered it be placed on hold. Trump asked for an investigation to be launched over complaints of some official's favoring Amazon. Two months later, officials announced that the contract will be awarded to Microsoft instead.
