How Big Tech armed and prepared itself to push back US antitrust onslaught

As news of the federal and congressional probes roiled the companies' shares this week, lawyers and executives working for Amazon, Facebook and Google were taking a wait-and-see approach

Investors were caught off guard by the sudden US assault on tech giants this week, but behind the scenes, the industry’s biggest firms have been preparing for this moment of reckoning for months.

They’ve hired lawyers and built up their lobbying shops in response to antitrust investigations that have been well under way in the European Union, and which are just now getting started in Washington.

Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook all have been working publicly and behind the scenes for months to make their cases for why they help competition, rather than harm it, and already have formidable teams