Amazon Asks Consultant to Tap Politico Journos But Mistakenly Includes Reporter on Email Chain

It is a common, though unsightly, practice among large corporations to fund advocacy groups who then take their side in Congress. The tech industry has been specifically funding minority groups for this practice.

Amazon asked a consulting firm to push the narrative that legislation aimed at limiting its influence would hurt minority communities and used a letter penned by a minority advocacy group it funds to do so.

The plan was revealed after the consultant, who works for FTI Consulting agency, accidentally included a POLITICO reporter in the email conversation.

The American Choice and Innovation Online Act is a bill working its way through Congress that would block tech companies from giving preference to their products over their competitors. It has been the subject of scorn for many tech firms, including Amazon, Google, and Meta*.

Amazon spokesperson Julia Lawless asked an FTI Consulting employee to encourage media outlets to cover a letter sent from the National Minority Quality Forum that questioned if the bill was doing enough to prevent data health care breaches. The Forum is ostensibly dedicated to ending health care disparities among minority groups and lists Amazon as one of its corporate sponsors.

This is not the only case of a tech company using a minority advocacy group it funds to fight the bill. Earlier this year, Google encouraged reporters to cover a letter from the National Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents Black newspaper publishers and is funded in part by Google, according to POLITICO. That same association has been accused of getting in bed with tobacco companies in the 1990s.

“Would it be possible for you all to push this with some of the newsletters — Politico tech, Politico Health, etc to underscore continued concern from a broad cross section of groups, including communities of color?” Lawless wrote in the thread that was sent to a POLITICO reporter.

The FTI Consultant had specific POLITICO reporters in mind, mentioning that he would be “happy to reach out to Brendan and Sarah” but wanted to make sure he could say the email came from Amazon. “There is a decent chance Brendan and/or Sarah will ask if we are sending this on behalf of a client. Are you okay if I say Amazon?”

The POLITICO reporters the consultant was referring to are likely Brendan Bordelon, POLITICO’s daily tech newsletter writer, and Sarah Owermohle, who writes their health care newsletter.

It is unclear which reporter was accidentally forwarded into the email chain. Bordelon was credited with contributing to the POLITICO report.

Despite their public hand wringing about how the law may affect communities of color, Amazon has been criticized for their interactions with minorities. Last year, former employees accused the company of having “deep, systemic issues” that disadvantage Black employees, and in 2019, three Muslim employees sued the company for discrimination.

The facial recognition software the company sells to law enforcement has also been shown to have gender and racial biases. Additionally, earlier this year, the company took immense heat after a leaked memo described Amazon Labor Union leader Chris Smalls, who is Black, as “not smart or articulate.”

After including the reporter on the email chain, the consultant apologized: “I obviously just sent an internal discussion email to you on accident. As you can read, it was pre-decisional.”

FTI Consulting and Amazon declined to comment to POLITICO. The National Minority Quality Forum did not respond to their requests for comment.