A US federal court said on Wednesday that it did not rule out the possibility of former US President Donald Trump interfering in awarding a military cloud computing contract worth $ 10 billion to modernize technology at the Pentagon.
The decision is considered a victory for Amazon, which it claimed was overridden during the contract deliberations, due to Mr. Trump's enmity towards its founder Jeff Bezos, but the Defense Department hinted that it would cancel the contract completely if the litigation period was prolonged, thus evaporating Amazon's opportunity to secure a multi-billion dollar deal.
The Pentagon awarded a 10-year contract to develop a joint defense infrastructure, known as JEDI, to Microsoft in 2019, after a fierce battle between Amazon and other tech giants, for a mega-deal to modernize the military's cloud computing systems.
But Amazon sued to prevent implementation of the contract, arguing that Microsoft did not have the technical capabilities to meet the needs of the military, and that the process was biased against it due to Trump's repeated criticism of Bezos.
Bezos owns the Washington Post, which has been strongly criticized for its coverage of the Trump administration. Trump referred to the newspaper as "the Amazon Washington Post" and accused it of spreading "false news."
Trump said requests by other companies should be considered to implement a Jedi contract, and Amazon argued that Trump used "improper pressure" to influence the Pentagon to select a technology provider to implement the contract.
"The record of the improper influence of former President Trump is disturbing, and we are pleased that the court will review the significant impact he had on awarding the Jedi contract," Amazon spokesman Douglas Stone said.
Microsoft said that Amazon's allegations of bias lack evidence and that it is ready to provide the necessary technology to the military (Reuters)
The Defense Department said Trump played no role in the decision.
Microsoft said Amazon's allegations of bias lacked evidence and that it was prepared to provide the technology to the military.
A large portion of the military operates on outdated computer systems, and the Ministry of Defense has spent billions of dollars trying to modernize those systems while protecting classified materials.
In February, Judge Patricia E. Campbell Smith of the Federal Claims Court ordered Microsoft to stop working on the contract until the legal challenge to Amazon was resolved, and a Pentagon spokesman said at the time that the delay was not necessary, and it led to a rollback of modernization efforts Defense technology.
The Pentagon warned Congress in January that it would explore other ways to meet the Defense Department's need for cloud computing technology, if the court agreed to hear arguments about Mr Trump's role.
In a letter delivered to Congress, the Defense Department's CIO said allegations that Trump tipped the scales against Amazon "will need to be litigated objectively" and will require testimonies from senior Pentagon officials and former White House aides.
"The possibility of the long judicial process reaching an end may take time, which may make the future of cloud technology needed to develop the military into question," the office said in its letter.
The letter added that the Defense Ministry's top priority should be transferring technology into the hands of the military, and that further delay would be unreasonable.
The Defense Ministry earlier this month pressed the court to update the case timeline.
"The continued delay in the commencement of the trial necessitates the continued obstruction of Gedi's project, and to some extent the potential implications for national security," Brian Boynton, Acting Assistant Prosecutor, wrote in the court file.
Judge Campbell Smith rejected petitions from Microsoft and the Department of Defense to reject the complaint of Amazon interference, and asked the two companies and the agency to develop a plan for how to move forward within the next month.