Did Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos lie to Congress?

During a recent hearing on Capitol Hill,  Bezos was challenged by Representative Matt Gaetz about the internet retail giant’s decision to outsource the gatekeeping regarding who can participate in its AmazonSmile charitable program to the controversial Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Representative Gaetz asked: “Why would you trust them?”

Acknowledging an “imperfect system,” Bezos replied: “I would love suggestions on… better or additional sources.”

But he has already received a suggestion! In a Federalist commentary, Justin Danhof, Esq. – director of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) – remarks:

He would love suggestions? Bezos has received such a suggestion tens of thousands of times this year. I should know. I am responsible for personally sending one to him.

In fact, Justin sent the company a proposal on the subject that Bezos – as chairman of the Amazon board of directors – undoubtedly voted to oppose.

Bezos should have been testifying as to why he opposed the commonsense plan offered by FEP regarding the company’s outright religious discrimination, a plan backed by many Amazon investors and customers.

Chronicling the Gaetz-Bezos exchange, Justin writes:

Gaetz called out Bezos over the company’s reliance on the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, as the gatekeeper for the AmazonSmile charitable program. Through AmazonSmile, customers can direct a small percentage of their purchases to a charity of their choice. That choice, however, is limited to charities the SPLC filters.

Gaetz rightfully called out this unholy marriage. Looking right at the richest man in the world, the Florida congressman said: “I am not here accusing you as someone who would ever traffic in hate, but it seems you have empowered people who do. I’m particularly talking about the Southern Poverty Law Center.”

“Why should it outsource this awesome responsibility to any outside organization,” Justin asks, “much less to a discredited anti-religious one?”

As the overseer of the AmazonSmile program, the SPLC has used its “hate map” and other politicized resources to “demonize” Americans of faith:

By placing faith-based groups such as the American Family Association, the Family Research Council, the Jewish Defense League, and Alliance Defending Freedom alongside anti-Semites and racists such as the Ku Klux Klan, the hate map smears Americans of faith with guilt by association. It’s sinister, and Bezos knows it. Yet he still allows the SPLC to block these faith-based charities and others from AmazonSmile.

At this year’s Amazon shareholder meeting in May, FEP presented the resolution that “highlighted the inherent risks of engaging in such outright bigotry and viewpoint discrimination.”

“Any sober assessment of our resolution,” Justin writes, “would have caused Amazon to drop the SPLC.”

Not only that, but a companion petition campaign in support of the resolution generated tens of thousands of petitions that were sent to the members of the Amazon board of directors – including Bezos.

So no matter what Bezos testified – under oath – before Congress, the CEO has already received advice worth serious consideration:

If Amazon employees can decide which products are permitted to be sold on its massive website, surely they can be tasked with determining which charities are peddling in hate versus those simply preaching religious values. Bezos knows this, and despite his claim that he “would love suggestions,” he knows he’s already gotten them.

Click here to read all of Justin’s commentary at the Federalist website.

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