(Bloomberg) -- The Pentagon said the acquisition process for its JEDI cloud contract valued at as much as $10 billion wasn’t tainted by alleged conflicts of interest, allowing selection in the winner-take-all competition to move ahead.

Only two of the companies seeking the contract remain “within the competitive range” and “will participate further” in the contest, Defense Department spokeswoman Elissa Smith said in a statement without naming the companies. Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. have been widely viewed as front-runners among at least four technology firms seeking the award.

The soonest the contract would be awarded is mid-July, according to Smith. She also revealed that alleged unethical conduct by a former Defense Department employee has been referred to the department’s inspector general.

The Pentagon disclosed in February that it was reviewing new information about “possible personal conflicts of interest” involving a former employee at a high-level Pentagon technology unit. Oracle Corp., which opposes the Pentagon’s winner-take-all approach for the cloud contract, sued in federal court to stop the award.

The department’s investigation “determined that there is no adverse impact on the integrity of the acquisition process,” Smith said. The Pentagon will ask the court to lift a stay in the case that it had requested to review the allegations.

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