Leading House Democrats are demanding an investigation into Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick over allegations connected to the reported relationship between NVIDIA's former chief executive and a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang resigned this week after allegations surfaced that he had an affair with Alice Huang, an executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed who is suspected of working as a Chinese spy. Alice Huang is of no familial relation to the NVIDIA chief. Amid the fallout, multiple investigative reports claimed Lutnick received a classified memo warning him about the relationship.
"Howard Lutnick needs to be investigated over his role in Jensen Huang and the Chinese spy, we're going to have an investigation into those allegations, that's completely unacceptable," Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., who is expected to become chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told Fox News Digital.
Lieu alleged that Lutnick was briefed on the reported relationship between Huang and a woman identified by U.S. intelligence as a Chinese spy, yet took no action.
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a vice chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a member of the House Select Committee on China, also backed an investigation into Lutnick and did not rule out examining the role of Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "I think we need transparency," Khanna told Fox News Digital. "I think we need to understand what they knew." He added: "Rubio knew about the Chinese spy, and then got invited to the China trip. We need to get to the bottom of this."
Neither Lutnick nor Rubio responded to requests for comment. Neither cabinet secretary has been formally accused or indicted of wrongdoing in connection with the NVIDIA case, and neither Khanna nor Lieu explained how they would investigate, prosecute or seek the removal of the officials.
The remarks offer an early look at how congressional Democrats might use their incoming House majority in January, with a number of left-leaning lawmakers naming the cabinet officials they want to see face scrutiny. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination for Speaker of the House, did not respond when asked whether he had spoken with either lawmaker about taking action against Lutnick and Rubio.
The comments signal that Democrats could train their new majority on senior Trump administration officials and their handling of alleged Chinese intelligence threats. Whether any Republican lawmakers will support such investigations remains unclear.
Following Huang's resignation, House Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar, R-Mich., announced that the outgoing CEO has agreed to brief congressional committees about the scandal. Moolenaar also urged Congress to move quickly to pass bipartisan export control legislation in the year-end national defense bill. He welcomed the resignation, saying companies like NVIDIA should "never jeopardize our nation's security by giving Chinese companies access to their most advanced chips," and called on the chipmaker to "change its corporate practices and appoint leadership that makes national security its top priority."
