US Federal Claims Court judge Patricia Campbell has halted the Microsoft JEDI contract temporarily. This came after Amazon filed a lawsuit against the contract claiming that the JEDI(Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) contract between Microsoft and the Pentagon was somehow influenced by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
With this halt, Microsoft has expressed its displeasure. In an immediate press release, Frank Shaw, the VP at Microsoft Communications told that they are disappointed with the result of the hearing. However, he believes that the trial is a fair move by Amazon which will ultimately prove that Microsoft won the $10 billion JEDI contract fair and square.
Microsoft JEDI contract dispute with Amazon
Amazon filed the lawsuit against the Microsoft JEDI contract in November 2019. Finally, the court granted the motion which was filed by Amazon Web Services, which asked to put an immediate stop on the work by Microsoft on the JEDI contract. Amazon insisted that the process was full of errors and unmistakable bias.
Now that Amazon has won the first battle, they have to be aware that if they are found to file the motion without any plausible reason, they will have to deposit a $42 million bond to cover the costs. The court has held the funds and a deadline has been assigned to Amazon. Amazon needs to prove its allegations by February 20 or else they will lose their $42 million.
Amazon’s lawsuit came up with some very big allegations like the defense department made ‘egregious errors’ and there was a constant and inappropriate pressure provided from the POTUS. This was done so that the contract doesn’t get anywhere near to Donald Trump’s ‘political rival’ Jeff Bezos.
Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post. The Washington Post has been criticizing Donald Trump now and then and hence the rivalry which ultimately cost Amazon the contract.
Featured image from Pixabay
