Secretary of Defense Awarding of Pentagon Contract to Microsoft Over Amazon Was Done ‘Freely and Fairly’

Defense Secretary Mark Esper attends a joint press conference with South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo, after the 51st Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on Nov. 15, 2019. Jung Yeon-je/Pool Photo via AP

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday he is certain that the awarding of a $10 billion cloud-computing contract to Microsoft instead of Amazon was done fairly.

The Pentagon awarded the contract to Microsoft in late October, and Amazon said there was “unmistakable bias” on the government’s part and it intended to challenge the decision in court.