For Immediate Release: May 1, 2020

Press Contact: Robyn Shapiro, rshapiro@economicliberties.us

Bipartisan Lawmakers Demand Answers from Amazon’s Bezos, Threaten Subpoena

Washington, D.C. – The American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement in response to the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan letter to Amazon, which detailed Amazon’s failure to adequately comply with document requests and called on Jeff Bezos to testify before the Committee to explain a pattern of misleading the Subcommittee, including when Nate Sutton, an Amazon associate general counsel and former DOJ antitrust trial attorney, apparently perjured himself last July:

“Patience with Jeff Bezos’ disdain for democracy seems to be running out. What this letter reveals is significant bipartisan concern with Amazon’s pattern of disrespect, obfuscation, and outright dishonesty in its communications with the Antitrust Subcommittee on matters critical to protecting fair competition,” said Economic Liberties’ Executive Director Sarah Miller. “A perjury referral is in order – and if Jeff Bezos refuses to testify and cooperate with the broader investigation immediately, so are subpoenas.”

Today’s letter from the House Judiciary Committee follows reporting from the Wall Street Journal that revealed that Amazon uses trade secret data from third-party sellers to produce and market its own private-label goods on its online platform.

In July, Nate Sutton, an Amazon associate general counsel and former DOJ antitrust trial attorney, spoke under oath to the Antitrust Subcommittee about Amazon’s practices of competing with third party sellers. In response to a question by Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal on the corporation’s use of third-party seller data to create competitive private label products, he said, “We do not use any of that specific seller data in creating our own private brand products.” Today the Wall Street Journal revealed that what Sutton said is not true. According to documents and former employees, Amazon employees use trade secret data from independent sellers on its platform to develop competing products.

Watch clip of Rep. Jayapal and Sutton here.

Watch clip of Chairman Cicilline reminding Sutton that he is under oath here.

Watch Chairman Cicilline swearing in witnesses here. 

Read the New York Times profile on Sarah Miller and Economic Liberties here.

Learn more about Economic Liberties here.

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Economic Liberties works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. AELP believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.