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Members of a congressional committee questioned whether Amazon.com Inc. executives misled them during an investigation of the company’s business practices and if they may have lied under oath.
In a letter sent to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on Sunday, five members of Congress asked the company to provide “exculpatory evidence” to corroborate the sworn testimony that several leaders, including then-CEO Jeff Bezos, provided to the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee in 2019 and 2020. The letter was signed by Reps. David Cicilline (D., R.I.), Ken Buck (R., Colo.), Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), Jerrold Nadler (D., N.Y.) and Matt Gaetz (R., Fla.). The subcommittee probed Amazon’s use of data from third-party sellers as it has developed private-label products.
An Amazon spokesman said the company and its executives didn’t mislead the committee. He noted that Amazon has an internal policy prohibiting the use of individual seller data to develop Amazon products, and said that it investigates any allegations that the policy may have been violated. He also said the company designs the search function on its site to feature products customers want.
At issue is how Amazon responded to accusations that it uses the data of third-party sellers on its site when creating private-label products. Amazon executives repeatedly told members of the subcommittee in testimony and in written responses that it doesn’t use the data of individual third-party sellers to inform its vast lines of its own brands.
An expanded version of this report appears at WSJ.com.
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