Amazon scores legal victory in fight for Pentagon, Microsoft war cloud contract
Amazon filed a lawsuit in November challenging the Pentagon’s decision to award the massive contract to Microsoft
Money Map Press chief investment strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald discusses Amazon’s protest of the Pentagon awarding a cloud-computing contract to Microsoft and the expansion of the Google antitrust probe.
Microsoft and the Pentagon must temporarily put their plans to move forward with the multibillion dollar Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, on hold.
A judge agreed with Amazon’s request to temporarily halt work on the contract until a decision is made on its challenge of the award, according to sealed court documents.
Amazon filed a lawsuit in November challenging the Pentagon’s decision to award the massive contract to Microsoft, citing “unmistakable bias” in the evaluation process. It filed a motion in court last month to pause work on the job until its protest of the contract had been ruled on.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said on Thursday that the company was "disappointed" with the delay, but remains confident that it will ultimately be able to move forward with the job.
"We have confidence in the Department of Defense, and we believe the facts will show they ran a detailed, thorough and fair process in determining the needs of the warfighter were best met by Microsoft,” the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon said the litigation has "unnecessarily delayed implementing" the modernization strategy, but it remains confident in its decision to award the contract to Microsoft.
A Spokesperson for Amazon did not immediately return FOX Business' requests for comment.
Earlier this week, Microsoft hit back at Amazon’s challenge, saying it has focused its argument on comments made by President Trump regarding the contract due to a lack of “a compelling case on the merits of a traditional bid protest.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 211.48 | -2.62 | -1.22% |
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 426.89 | +1.69 | +0.40% |
Amazon requested to depose Trump, whom the company claims unduly influenced the procurement process through his alleged hostility toward Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Trump made comments over the summer that the contract may have been biased in favor of Amazon.
But Microsoft’s lawyers argue that Amazon presents no evidence that Trump’s comments are relevant to the process.
The JEDI contract is a winner-take-all job that is valued at about $10 billion. It is intended to help the military upgrade and transfer classified data.
MICROSOFT HITS BACK AT AMAZON'S 'WAR CLOUD' PROTEST
AMAZON FILES LAWSUIT OVER PENTAGON WAR CLOUD CONTRACT CITING 'UNMISTAKABLE BIAS' IN BIDDING PROCESS
In October, Microsoft was declared the winner in the race, which became the object of heightened scrutiny. Amazon had been considered the frontrunner due to its other standing cloud deals, including a $600 million cloud contract with the CIA. That indicates the company already has the approval to handle sensitive government data. The company, however, got drawn up in public controversy.
The Department of Defense reviewed the pending cloud contract following complaints there had been conflicts of interest involving Amazon and Department of Defense employees throughout the procurement process.
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Republicans sent a letter to Trump in July asking him to request that the Pentagon delay declaring either Amazon or Microsoft a winner.
Oracle, IBM and Google were the other initial contenders for the massive contract. Oracle challenged the bidding process in court last year but lost.