In a recent congressional hearing, an Amazon executive was asked about allegations that the world’s largest online retailer competed against its own sellers; Apple was asked about its clout in the market for apps and in-app purchases; Facebook was asked about a rapidly changing privacy policy; and Google over whether its rivals are demoted in search results.

According to Reuters, "The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it was opening a broad investigation of major digital technology firms. While it did not identify them the agency appeared to reference Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Facebook Inc, and potentially Apple Inc.

Yesterday eight state attorneys general including New York’s attorney general, Letitia James met with U.S. Attorney General William Barr on to discuss the effect of big tech companies on competition, and various antitrust actions are being reviewed, the Texas attorney general’s office said in a statement.

In a statement issued Thursday, we learn that the bipartisan group held discussions centered on 'big tech companies stifling competition on the internet. It was a productive meeting and we’re considering a range of possible antitrust actions against such companies.'"

Back in March Patently Apple posted a report titled "If President, Elizabeth Warren will Force Apple to Choose between running their Platform or Store, but not Both." Warren at the time clearly spelled out that Apple should be broken apart too — specifically, that it should not get to both run the App Store and distribute apps in it. "It’s got to be one or the other," she said. "Either they run the platform or they play in the store. They don’t get to do both at the same time."

In July when France introduced their new tax specifically aimed at Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon (acronym GAFA Tax), President Trump ordered an investigation into the effects of this legislation and determine whether it is discriminatory or unreasonable and burdens or restricts United States commerce."

So on one hand the U.S. government is warning the EU to be careful how they tax the largest U.S. tech firms while at the same time investigating the very same U.S. tech firms for antitrust behavior.

The matter is serious as we learned in a CNBC report that aired on Wednesday where Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the Justice Department was right to be looking into Amazon’s practices as part of its antitrust review of big technology companies.

More specifically Mnuchin told CNBC's Squawk Box host that "I think if you look at Amazon, although there are certain benefits to it, they’ve destroyed the retail industry across the United States so there’s no question they’ve limited competition.

Mnuchin added that "I think it’s very good that the attorney general is going to look into this. I think it’s an important issue and I look forward to him reporting back to the president and hearing his recommendations."

With Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin making his position known about Amazon, I don't think Apple will be treated with kid gloves either.

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