Lutnick Fights for His Job as Trump Aides Blame Him for the Nvidia Spy Scandal
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is fighting to keep his job as some of President Trump’s top advisers blame him for the political fallout from the Nvidia spy scandal.
Lutnick has become the main target of finger-pointing inside the administration over his efforts to stall chip-export restrictions, his long relationship with former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and earlier tensions with other officials, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Senior White House officials are discussing whether Lutnick should be pushed out, two people familiar with the situation said Thursday, the South China Morning Post reported.
The reports cut against the White House’s public message on Thursday, when an official said Trump “maintains complete confidence” in his Commerce secretary, as CDN reported.
Huang resigned Thursday after reports of an affair with Alice Huang, an executive at the Singapore-based chip buyer Megaspeed whom U.S. officials suspect of spying for Beijing. The two are not related.
Republicans Turn Up the Heat
Republican criticism is getting sharper. “Shame on Lutnick for allowing that exposure to happen for the president; to me, that’s a disqualifying moment for Lutnick,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) told Semafor, referring to Huang joining Trump on a China trip despite a State Department memo about the relationship.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said that if he were the secretary, he would “call a press conference and explain what happened,” adding, “This is as serious as an aneurysm.”
Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), the top Republican on the House China committee, said, “We’re hearing … Trump has directed three times” that Megaspeed be blacklisted. Sen. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) said Lutnick “used loopholes” to allow some sales, Semafor reported.
Not every Republican is ready to blame him. “Just settle down,” Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) said. “We don’t need to shoot Howard today.” No GOP lawmaker has explicitly called for Lutnick’s firing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Lutnick will testify before the Senate Commerce Committee, Semafor said. A Commerce spokesperson said Treasury and Commerce “have a great working relationship.”
Democrats Open a Probe
Democrats are moving too. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass.), the top Democrats on the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees, demanded Commerce preserve all records on Nvidia chip sales to China, their joint release said.
They target the arrangement letting Nvidia chips be sold to Chinese companies after paying a 25% tariff under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. “Trump’s use of the statute appears to have done the opposite, undermining U.S. national security,” Wyden and Neal wrote.
Lutnick has not been accused of any crime. The Commerce Department has said little publicly about why it never moved against Megaspeed.
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