Amazon said Friday it will “make the appropriate executive available” to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on the company’s competitive practices, but stopped short of making its CEO Jeff Bezos available like committee members requested.
Earlier this month, the committee compelled Bezos to testify after Democratic leaders said they suspected Amazon of lying to Congress. Top Democrats on the commitee said they suspected Amazon of lying to Congress over its private label strategy, after a recent Wall Street Journal report on the company’s use of third-party seller data appeared to contradict an Amazon executive’s previous testimony on its treatment of sellers.
The committee also threatened to subpoena Bezos if he didn’t comply.
In a response to the committee on Friday, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, Brian Huseman, said the company appreciates the opportunity to “address the issues” raised in the committee’s letter. But Amazon’s response doesn’t state it will make Bezos available for testimony.
“We disagree strongly with any suggestion that we have attempted to mislead the Committee or not been cooperative with the investigation,” Huseman said. “While our teams remain heads down around the clock focused on protecting the health and safety of our employees while continuing to serve customers during the global pandemic, we remain prepared to make the appropriate Amazon executive available to the Committee to address these important issues.”
