Commerce Secretary Lutnick Faces Possible Ouster as Nvidia-China Spy Scandal Deepens
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U.S. officials are reportedly considering removing Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as the investigation widens into Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s alleged ties to a woman U.S. intelligence believes may be a Chinese spy.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is now under consideration for removal, according to Reuters, as the White House digs into a widening scandal involving Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s reported affair with a woman U.S. intelligence agencies believe to be a Chinese spy. Lutnick had pushed to let Nvidia sell advanced chips to Megaspeed, a Singapore-based firm headed by a Chinese national connected to the affair.
President Donald Trump has defended Huang, saying that an intelligence assessment of the relationship “didn’t make much of an impact on me.” Republican senators, including Louisiana’s John Kennedy, have demanded that Lutnick explain himself. Kennedy told Politico that “Secretary Lutnick needs to answer that in front of God and country.”
Democratic leaders, who will chair key Senate committees in the next Congress, sent a letter to Lutnick, National Security Adviser Marco Rubio and White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller demanding that relevant documents be preserved and requesting a congressional appearance to address potential national-security risks.
Former officials and commentators have argued that targeting Lutnick may be a way to redirect attention away from the president. Former national-security adviser John Bolton said, “Eventually one of the subordinates will blame Trump,” while former White House counsel staffer Ty Cobb called Lutnick “the place to pull the knot” and questioned whether the secretary acted on his own or under presidential direction.
The White House and the Commerce Department declined to comment on the inquiries. In a separate interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt, President Trump described the episode as a “sad episode” for Huang, while noting the businessman’s $25 million donation to a Trump-affiliated project as he lobbied for chip sales to China.