Is there any evidence at all that Amazon initially corrupted the contract?

nickff · on Sept 4, 2020

It appears as though Amazon likely helped to write the requirements, such that they would be selected. If you write a strict and tailored set of requirements, you can basically select the contractor/product before you even put out the RFP (request for proposal); this is relatively common.

tankenmate · on Sept 4, 2020

I'd be interested in the original source on the allegation that AWS influenced requirements in such a way that they were the front runner to be selected; but nonetheless it is what has been alleged, not as sure that it "appears" that way without an original source.

DetroitThrow · on Sept 4, 2020

Source? I've heard this claim several times but I've not seen it substantiated. The original poster was asking for evidence explicitly as well.

nickff · on Sept 4, 2020

Taibbi, Matt (25 February 2019). "This Battle of Billionaires Was Inevitable". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 February 2019. "This started as a lawsuit filed by would-be bid competitor Oracle, whose co-CEO, Safra Catz, is reportedly one of Trump's biggest supporters in Silicon Valley. The suit suggested Pentagon procurement officer Deap Ubhi's involvement in the JEDI negotiations constituted a conflict. Ubhi used to work for Amazon and in 2017 tweeted, "Once an Amazonian, always an Amazonian.""

tankenmate · on Sept 4, 2020

Is there anything beyond the appearance of impropriety, is there anything technical in the RFP that strongly suggests either direct or indirect influence from AWS? (I ask this in all sincerity).

wmf · on Sept 4, 2020

There are some requirements in the RFP, like RAM sizes and ruggedized hardware, that exactly matched AWS specs but not Azure (at the time).

mikeyouse · on Sept 4, 2020

To be clear - He Tweeted that in response to Bezos opposing Trump's muslim ban.. it's much less nefarious in that context.

srtjstjsj · on Sept 5, 2020

He then went back to work at AWS, same place he worked before his detour into government writing an AWS-biased RF.P

HenryKissinger · on Sept 4, 2020

Amazon's complaint actually is that Trump corrupted the acquisition process in favor of Microsoft.

qzw · on Sept 4, 2020

I thought Trump doesn’t like Microsoft anymore? Didn’t he want to block them from buying TikTok and would instead prefer Oracle as the acquirer? Anyway I can’t keep up. It’s all changing faster than middle school friendships.