US DOD inspector general finds Pentagon decision to award $10B JEDI contract to Microsoft 'consistent' with acquisition standards

An inquiry by the inspector general for the United States Department of Defense found did not find evidence that impeached president Donald Trump swayed the decision to award the $10 Billion 'JEDI' defense contract to Microsoft, rather than Amazon or other competitors. Defense Inspector general added we believe evidence showed DoD personnel who evaluated contract proposals and awarded Microsoft the JEDI Cloud were not pressured regarding their decision" by any DoD leaders more senior" who may have communicated with the White House.

From Reuters:

Known as Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, the cloud computing contract is intended to give the military better access to data and technology from remote locations.

We could not definitively determine the full extent or nature of interactions that administration officials had, or may have had, with senior DoD officials regarding the JEDI Cloud procurement because of the assertion of a presidential communications privilege, the report said, referring to the Department of Defense by its acronym.

Amazon, originally considered to be the favorite to win the award, has blamed President Donald Trump for bias against the company and for improperly pressuring the Pentagon.

The report leaves open the question of whether Trump improperly influenced one of the most closely watched procurement contracts given its size and the high-profile nature of the bidders.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Defense Department said the report should finally close the door on the media and corporate-driven attacks on the career procurement officials involved with JEDI.