Amazon seeks link to Trump over loss

WASHINGTON — Amazon on Friday cited comments by President Donald Trump at a rally and to journalists as it pursues its challenge to the Pentagon’s decision to award a lucrative contract to rival Microsoft last month.

For the first time, Amazon directly linked comments by the president to the award of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract to Microsoft. Though Amazon filed its protest under seal, it also notified the Court of Federal Claims that it intends to use four videos as exhibits, including one of Trump at a February 2016 campaign rally, as well as a Fox News host urging him to prevent the Pentagon from awarding the contract to the online retail giant.

The e-commerce giant formally filed a protest with the Court of Federal Claims to protest the award of the cloud-computing contract. It did so under seal to protect trade secrets.

In a statement, the e-commerce giant repeated its claims that “unmistakable bias” and “political influence” tainted the decision-making process. Trump has repeatedly criticized Amazon, whose chief executive, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.

Amazon also repeated its suggestion that the award of the contract to Microsoft was improperly influenced by Trump.

“We also believe it’s critical for our country that the government and its elected leaders administer procurements objectively and in a manner that is free from political influence,” Amazon spokesman Drew Herdener reiterated, issuing the same statement he gave a week ago.

The contract could be worth up to $10 billion over 10 years. Amazon, which pioneered the commercial cloud-computing market business and dominates it with a 48% market share, according to market-research firm Gartner, had been seen as the most likely winner. It said it would protest after Microsoft, which holds a 15.5% share of the market, got the contract.

Microsoft also filed to intervene in the protest, giving it an opportunity to participate in the case.