Amazon signaled that its CEO, Jeff Bezos, is willing to testify before Congress regarding its inquiry into potential antitrust law violations in the tech industry.
In a letter to lawmakers sent Sunday, a lawyer for Amazon said Bezos would be available to testify in the summer despite the company’s prior resistance to commit to an appearance from the company’s billionaire founder.
“Of course, we will need to resolve a number of questions regarding timing, format, and outstanding document production issues, all necessarily framed by the extraordinary demands of the global pandemic,” said the letter which was obtained by the Washington Examiner. “In addition, we think it bears emphasizing that other senior executives now run the businesses that are the actual subject of the Committee’s investigation.”
Amazon has been at the center of an investigation into alleged anti-competition conduct within the technology sector. The House Judiciary Committee is also looking into Facebook, Google, and Apple in its inquiry.
Lawmakers have asked the CEOs of these top tech giants to also appear at an upcoming hearing that would finalize over a year of work in the committee’s study into Silicon Valley’s conduct. Whether the companies will dispatch their top executives remains unclear.
Last month, Rep. David Cicilline, a Rhode Island Democrat who head’s the panel’s antitrust subcommittee, threatened to issue a subpoena against Bezos if he did not commit to making an appearance regarding the investigation.
“No one is above the law, no matter how rich or powerful,” Cicilline tweeted on May 15. “We have asked Mr. Bezos to testify before the US Congress about Amazon’s troubling business practices and false statements, and we expect him to do so. Whether he does so voluntarily or by subpoena is his choice.”
If Bezos testifies, it would be his first appearance in front of Congress.
