Amazon wants FTC chair to recuse herself from antitrust probes of the company

Amazon.com has filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission asking that its new chair, Lina Khan, recuse herself from any antitrust investigations into the retail and technology giant. “Although Amazon profoundly disagrees with Chair Khan’s conclusions about the company, it does not dispute her right to have spoken provocatively and at great length about it in her prior roles. But given her long track record of detailed pronouncements about Amazon and her repeated proclamations that Amazon has violated the antitrust laws, a reasonable observer would conclude that she no longer can consider the company’s antitrust defenses with an open mind.” Ms. Khan has argued in the past that current antitrust laws are not able to properly police large technology companies.