FTC reverses its request for a delay in an Amazon trial, says it has assets to litigate the case

The Federal Commerce Fee has walked again feedback {that a} lack of assets is interfering with the company’s skill to be prepared for a September trial over Amazon’s Prime program.

Jonathan Cohen, a lawyer for the FTC, had requested a federal decide throughout a listening to on Wednesday to delay the path and loosen up deadlines within the case, citing budgetary and staffing shortfalls.

However the company made an about-face later within the day, telling U.S. District Decide John Chun in a letter submitted in court docket that the statements Cohen made have been incorrect.

“I wish to make clear feedback I made at the moment: I used to be flawed,” Cohen wrote within the letter. “The Fee doesn’t have useful resource constraints and we’re totally ready to litigate this case.”

In a press release despatched to the AP on Thursday, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson additionally mentioned “the lawyer was flawed.”

“I’ve made it clear since Day One that we are going to commit the assets mandatory for this case,” Ferguson mentioned, including that his company “won’t ever again down from taking over Massive Tech.”

Cohen’s feedback have been made amid large-scale cost-cutting efforts throughout the federal authorities pushed by Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, or DOGE.

Through the listening to on Wednesday, Cohen mentioned some workers selected to go away the FTC following the “Fork within the highway” e mail despatched by the administration in January. Employees members who resigned for different causes additionally haven’t been changed attributable to a authorities hiring freeze, he mentioned.

The trial is the results of a lawsuit the fee filed in 2023 accusing Amazon of enrolling shoppers in its Prime program with out their consent and making it tough for them to cancel their subscriptions.

An Amazon spokesperson didn’t instantly reply for remark.