Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is willing to testify before Congress as part of its antitrust investigation into big tech companies, according to a report from The New York Times' David McCabe.
The Times reviewed a letter to lawmakers from Covington & Burling, the law firm representing Amazon, which said the company would "make the appropriate executive available to testify," which includes Bezos. The letter specifically noted that Bezos would be willing to testify at a hearing "with the other CEOs this summer."
Bezos' involvement would also depend on clearing up questions about the timing and format of the hearing. The letter noted there were outstanding questions about the lawmakers' request for Amazon's internal documents, The Times reports.
Business Insider independently confirmed the contents of the letter.
Amazon has previously rebuffed calls to make Bezos available to testify, telling lawmakers in a letter that it would send an executive to testify but never mentioning Bezos specifically. Lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee have threatened to subpoena Bezos if he refuses to voluntarily appear before the committee.
The House Judiciary Committee has been looking into tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook for several months, probing whether any of tech's major players acted anti-competitively. When it comes to Amazon, the committee is likely questioning the company's practices when it comes to third-party sellers on its platform, as well as how its size and scope impacts small businesses, according to The Times.
Bezos has never testified in front of Congress before, although many of his peers have — Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter's Jack Dorsey, Google's Sundar Pichai, and Apple's Tim Cook have all appeared in front of Congress in the past, although not to specifically address antitrust concerns.
