FTC's Khan, critic of Big Tech, takes on Amazon.com

FILE PHOTO: FTC Commissioner nominee Lina M. Khan testifies during a Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the nomination of Former Senator Bill Nelson to be NASA administrator, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2021. Graeme Jennings/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan - whose agency filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit against Amazon.com on Tuesday - published a major academic article in 2017 arguing the online retailer had escaped antitrust scrutiny.

"With its missionary zeal for consumers, Amazon has marched toward monopoly by singing the tune of contemporary antitrust," Khan, then 29, wrote in the Yale Law Journal. Amazon "has evaded government scrutiny in part through fervently devoting its business strategy and rhetoric to reducing prices for consumers."