In a letter sent to the House Judiciary Committee, a legal representative of Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has stated that the online retail giant is "committed to cooperating" with the House's ongoing antitrust investigation into big tech companies. The company has said that Jeff Bezos will be available to testify at a hearing.
The US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is in the midst of a wide-reaching antitrust investigation into the market shares and the sheer reach of major tech companies, such as Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL), Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), and Amazon. CEOs of Amazon's contemporaries have already testified before the House Judiciary Committee on different matters, but the committee is hoping to bring them back for its current antitrust investigation.
Previously, Amazon had been resistant to making Bezos available for testifying before the House Judiciary Committee. The recent letter to the committee marks a turnaround from Amazon's previous stance; additionally, Amazon's willingness to cooperate could potentially signal other major tech companies to send their CEOs to appear before the committee as part of the investigation. Even if other CEOs don't appear willingly, the House Judiciary Committee has made it very well known that it will subpoena executives if absolutely necessary.
Despite the apparent willingness of Bezos to appear before the committee, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic might derail plans to have all CEOs appear. How Congressional lawmakers plan to accommodate Bezos and other CEOs while adhering to protective measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control remains unknown. Still, the option does remain for the committee to use virtual means to have Bezos and other CEOs testify.
In addition to the scrutiny Amazon faces from the House Judiciary Committee, the company also faces potential antitrust charges from the European Union. According to critics of the company, the company allegedly engages in anticompetitive behavior by using the sales data generated by third party brands on its storefront to compete against them with its own brands.