Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing scrutiny from members of his own party for failing to place a firm at the center of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s cheating scandal on a trade blacklist.
Lutnick and the department he oversees are accused of failing to act against Singapore-based Megaspeed, despite knowing it was suspected of flouting a trade ban and posing a national security risk by smuggling advanced AI chipspurchased from Nvidia into China.
The concerns intensified after it was revealed that Jensen Huang, who has an estimated net worth of around $150 billion, has been having an affair with Megaspeed employee and suspected Chinese spy Alice Huang. The Nvidia boss has also admitted to a second extramarital affairwith Kimberly Powell, the company’s vice president of healthcare.
Multiple Republicans have now come forward to demand answers from Lutnick about why the Commerce Department failed to add Megaspeed to a so-called entity list, despite calls from the Pentagon, State Department and Treasury Department. This would have prevented U.S. businesses from selling technology to the Singapore-based company.
Photos showing Jensen Huang and Alice Huang, the alleged Chinese spy with whom he has admitted to having an affair, were posted on her WeChat account.
“The obvious question is why did he choose to sell advanced chips?” Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy told Politico on Wednesday.
“Secretary Lutnick needs to answer that in front of God and country. If I were he, I’d call a press conference this afternoon and explain what happened and why he agreed to sell ’em chips, and I would stop doing it.”
Kennedy added that Congress will likely investigate the lack of action against Megaspeed, but that Lutnick shouldn’t have to “wait on Congress.”
Michigan Rep. Bill Huizenga is calling on Lutnick to testify before Congress about why he failed to act despite a months-long investigation into whether Megaspeed was smuggling Nvidia’s powerful AI chips into China. Lutnick was also apparently told by White House and intelligence officials to take action in 2025.
“I don’t think he’s been very responsive,” Huizenga said.
Fellow Michigan Rep. John Moolenaar added: “I’d say we want to get to the bottom of the matter and to really have transparency on this.”
Lutnick has already been confronted by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over his failure to place Megaspeed on a national security blacklist.
Scott Bessent’s department wanted Howard Lutnick to place Megaspeed on a blacklist amid concerns about Chinese spying.
In a fiery clash in the White House Situation Room on Nov. 6, the hot-headed Bessent demanded to know why Megaspeed was still allowed to buy chips from Nvidia amid the spying concerns.
Lutnick “initially stammered,” before sheepishly replying, “I don’t know. I’ll look into it,” sources told Axios.
One source described Lutnick’s reply as “bulls–t,” as Lutnick had been resisting action against Megaspeed even after he was personally handed a memo outlining the security concerns, drafted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Alice Huang at a dinner hosted by billionaire Jensen Huang at a restaurant in Taipei in 2025.
Lutnick was concerned that holding Megaspeed accountable could escalate the trade war with China, Axios reported.
Alice Huang, the managing director of Megaspeed, has returned to China following the honeypot scandal and is currently living in Beijing, sources have told Bloomberg.
House Speaker Mike Johnson gave a typically noncommittal answer when asked whether Lutnick would face scrutiny, adding that the administration “is looking into all of it.”
“I’m not going to comment any further than that until I find some facts,” Johnson told Politico.
The Daily Beast has contacted Howard Lutnick’s office for comment.
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