Congress urges DOJ to investigate Amazon for obstruction
Amazon’s private label practices continue to come under fire from Congress. Last week, according to CNBC, a group of lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Justice, calling for an investigation into Amazon for potentially working to obstruct Congress during its probe of Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook.
In October of last year, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee delivered a letter to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, implying the company misled Congress during the 2020 hearing on Amazon’s private label practices. Amazon has continued to grow its private label business, and plans to launch its first own brand clothing storefront this year.
Lawmakers have zeroed in on Amazon’s private label practices and its collection of third-party seller data, claiming Amazon has made false and misleading statements to the House Committee about its practices, then refused to turn over evidence that would “either corroborate its claims or correct the record,” according to the 24-page letter. The letter was bipartisan, signed by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., House Antitrust Subcommittee chair David Cicilline, D-R.I., and committee members Reps. Ken Buck, R-Colo., Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.
“It [Amazon] appears to have done so [allegedly making false statements] to conceal the truth about its use of third-party sellers’ data to advantage its private-label business and its preferencing of private label products in search results — subjects of the Committee’s investigation,” said the letter. “As a result, we have no choice but to refer this matter to the Department of Justice to investigate whether Amazon and its executives obstructed Congress in violation of applicable federal law.”
Amazon is denying the claims of Congress. An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC in a statement: “There’s no factual basis for this, as demonstrated in the huge volume of information we’ve provided over several years of good faith cooperation with this investigation."