Amid antitrust probes, Amazon requests recusal of FTC chair

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Oh, just Amazon?

Amazon filed a 25-page motion this week requesting new FTC chair Lina Khan’s recusal from any and all antitrust probes involving the company. Khan has publicly criticized Amazon’s biz practices throughout her career; Amazon said those comments make impartial investigations impossible.

Hit refresh: Amazon’s been accused of anticompetitive practices since the 2000 ribbon cutting for its third-party marketplace. But pressure to make Amazon the slightly-less-than-everything store has risen after last summer’s antitrust hearings and this year’s acquisition of MGM.

• A bipartisan coalition is currently pushing a host of antitrust legislation aimed at Big Tech, including two regulatory bills that 👀 Amazon and its platform practices (without naming names).

Big picture:Amazon’s reach can benefit shoppers—same-day delivery, anyone? But “there's a general discomfort with having one company with so much control,” NYU law professor Harry First told Retail Brew. Sizing up Amazon’s...size for antitrust concerns is a political and economic judgment, he said: “That's why the bills are in front of the legislature and Congress.”

The FTC didn’t comment on Amazon’s motion or those pending bills. But if Khan remains involved in Amazon cases, a tighter leash on its practices could follow.—HL, KM