Pentagon Watchdog Finds No Smoking Gun in Investigation of $10 Billion JEDI Award

The Pentagon's Inspector General has weighed in on a controversial $10 billion cloud computing contract awarded to Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), saying the Department of Defense followed proper procedures when picking Microsoft over Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) but offering a less decisive verdict on Amazon's claim that the White House influenced the outcome.

Last year, the Pentagon awarded the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to Microsoft, defying analysts' predictions that Amazon would win the contract. Amazon in November filed suit to try to reverse that decision, claiming that President Trump's long-standing feud with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos had caused him to get involved and improperly influence Pentagon officials to steer the contract to Microsoft.

The IG review did not address the technical and financial merits of Microsoft's offering compared to Amazon, rather it was focused on whether the evaluation and selection process was in compliance with guidelines, and whether it was influenced by outside pressures. The review included more than 80 interviews, including the JEDI contracting officer, current and former program managers, attorneys, ethics officials, and other Defense Department officials.

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Source Fool.com