Amazon requested that the chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan, be recused from any antitrust matters related to online retail giant Amazon. The company cited her previous work at an anti-trust advocacy group as well as public statements and congressional subcommittee employment for their request.
Amazon is requesting that the FTC Chair Lina Khan be recused from all matters related to Amazon because of her previous work while at an antitrust advocacy group, public statements, and work for a congressional subcommittee.
“Given her long track record of detailed pronouncements about Amazon, and her repeated proclamations that Amazon has violated the antitrust laws, a reasonable observer would conclude that she no longer can consider the company’s antitrust defenses with an open mind,” Amazon said in its filing. “Indeed, doing so would require her to repudiate the years of writings and statements that are at the foundation of her professional career.”
The FTC declined to comment.
The agency is investigating Amazon as part of a series of probes underway into Big Tech and its potential to monopolize markets for goods or services, potentially restricting choice among consumers. The proposed purchase by Amazon – which has an estimated half-trillion dollars in annual revenue – will be carefully scrutinized amid ongoing concerns about the company’s power over prices within online commerce channels like eCommerce sites such as eBay, including predatory pricing practices that have been alleged previously concerning other companies (e.g., Khan 2017).
The House Judiciary antitrust committee released a massive report that spelled out what it believed was anti-competitive conduct by Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Alphabet’s Google.
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