Amazon seeks Trump deposition in ‘war cloud’ lawsuit

Amazon is seeking to depose President Trump and top administration officials amid its court battle with the Pentagon over a $10 billion cloud computing contract.

In a court filing made public on Monday, Amazon asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims for permission to depose Trump, Defense Secretary Mark Esper and former Defense Secretary James Mattis as it works to prove that Trump improperly intervened in the contract process to keep the lucrative award away from tech behemoth.

“President Donald J. Trump has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to use his position as President and Commander in Chief to disrupt the orderly administration of government functions, including federal procurements, to advance personal motives,” Amazon said in the court filing. “There is no question he did so here.”

Amazon is suing the Pentagon over its decision to award the cloud computing contract, called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, to Microsoft, claiming Amazon was the clear front-runner before Trump publicly intervened in the process last year.

Now, Amazon is asking the court to move into a discovery period that could allow Amazon to amass more documents and evidence to prove whether Trump interfered in the process behind closed doors.

It would be unprecedented to depose a sitting president as part of a company’s government contract protest.

Amazon in a footnote wrote “a deposition of a sitting President of the United States presents unique circumstances” but vowed to “develop appropriate protocols and safeguards” to navigate the sensitive situation.”