Amazon hired one of Trump's allies to lobby on its behalf as it looks to score a $10 billion contract with the Pentagon
- Amazon hired one of Trump's allies to lobby on behalf of its cloud-computing service on "issues related to cyber security and technology," according to a recent lobbying disclosure filing, first reported by CNBC.
- The document said that Jeff Miller, who is CEO of lobbying firm Miller Strategies, was registered to lobby for Amazon as of June 5.
- The news comes as Amazon looks to lock down a $10 billion cloud contract with the Pentagon.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Amazon has hired one of Trump's allies to lobby on behalf of it its cloud computing service - Amazon Web Services - on "issues related to cyber security and technology," according to a recent lobbying disclosure filing that was first reported by CNBC.
The document said that Jeff Miller, who is CEO of lobbying firm Miller Strategies, was registered as of June 5 to lobby on behalf of Amazon, according to CNBC.
Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. Business Insider also reached out to Jeff Miller via Linkedin but did not hear back.
The news comes as Amazon looks to lock down a $10 billion cloud contract with the Pentagon. The bidding for the contract has narrowed down to two finalists - Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, but AWS is widely considered the favorite to win.
However, this is not a guaranteed win. Earlier this month, Trump stepped in and reportedly demanded more information about this contract after other competing companies complained that the deal had unfairly favored Amazon.
Oracle, one of the companies in the running that was knocked out in April, filed a lawsuit challenging the Pentagon's bidding process, saying that "JEDI is riddled with improprieties," and "[Amazon Web Services] made undisclosed employment and bonus offers to at least two DoD (Dept. of Defense) JEDI officials."
In June, the Pentagon denied these allegations and defended its decision to narrow it down to Microsoft and Amazon. And a federal judge later ruled against Oracle's protest.
It is likely that Miller could be brought on board to help Amazon secure this contract.
Miller is also acting as a campaign bundler to help Trump raise funds for his 2020 reelection campaign. According to CNBC, he helped raise more than $1 million for Trump Victory, a fundraising committee that brings in cash for the campaign and the Republican National Committee, in the second quarter.