DOJ asked to investigate Amazon for Obstruction of Congress during antitrust investigation

The House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to the Department of Justice on Wednesday asking it investigate Amazon for what may be criminal Obstruction of Congress, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The letter, sent by Democratic and Republican committee members to Attorney General Merrick Garland, says the tech giant is refusing to provide information requested by lawmakers for an investigation by its Antitrust Subcommittee into Amazon’s anti-competitive practices.

Throughout the investigation, “Amazon repeatedly endeavored to thwart the Committee’s efforts to uncover the truth about Amazon’s business practices,” the congressional letter said, according to WSJ.

“For this, it must be held accountable,” the letter continued, for “potentially criminal conduct by Amazon and certain of its executives.” It did not specify which individuals, however.

An Amazon spokeswoman said there was “no factual basis” for the accusations and pointed to “several years of good-faith cooperation with the investigation.”

The main issue is Amazon’s alleged for analyzing the sales of third-party sellers on its website to develop products for their own, in-house brands – a conflict between its roles as a marketplace and a seller of its own products.

A WSJ investigation in April 2020 found that Amazon was using data from independent sellers on the platform to develop their own competing products. Former employees shared evidence showing that the tech giant watched third-party products carefully for total sales, earning potential, and even which features to copy or exclude.

Amazon has denied this, saying that third-party sellers’ data is private and protected under its Seller Data Protection Policy. Its critics in the Judiciary Committee contend Amazon has failed to provide substantial evidence that would “either corroborate its claims or correct the record.”

“Throughout the course of the committee's investigation, Amazon attempted to cover up its lie by offering ever-shifting explanations of what it called its 'Seller Data Protection Policy,'” the letter said.

Four U.S. tech giants – Amazon, Apple, Google parent Alphabet, and Meta (formerly Facebook) – were the subject of a 16-month investigation that resulted in the publication of a critical report in October 2020 over their practices. According to people involved, interactions with Amazon have been the most contentious.

Obstruction of Congress is one of the offenses legislators alleged during the impeachment of former President Donald J. Trump. The criminal component of the charge is formally called Obstructing Congressional or Administrative Proceedings (18 U.S.C. 1505). 

Those convicted of such an offense can face up to five years in prison (not more than eight years if the offense involves domestic or international terrorism), or both.

According to a report published by Congressional Research Services, “Prosecutions under §1505 have been relatively few, at least until recently, and most of these arise as obstructions of administrative proceedings. The crime of obstruction of [such] proceedings has three essential elements.

“First, there must be a proceeding pending before a department or agency of the United States. Second, the defendant must be aware of the pending proceeding. Third, the defendant must have intentionally endeavored corruptly to influence, obstruct or impede the pending proceeding.”