Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick under pressure in Nvidia espionage scandal
Lutnick will testify next month after public criticism from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over the handling of Megaspid.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is facing mounting pressure over his apparent inaction in the espionage controversy tied to Nvidia, with other members of the Trump administration publicly questioning his decisions.
Lutnick is scheduled to testify before Congress next month, only days after the ousted chief executive of Nvidia is set to answer lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
On Friday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused the Department of Commerce of failing to place Megaspid — the Singapore-based company at the center of the scandal that prompted Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to resign — on Washington's trade blacklist.
Bessent told CNBC that the Treasury Department, the Department of Defense, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the State Department had supported adding Megaspid to the blacklist "for months." "But the Department of Commerce is responsible for that," Bessent said.
Heightened scrutiny and political fallout
The public rebuke from one cabinet department aimed at another is an uncommon escalation. The criticism has intensified calls for clarity about the internal decision-making at the Department of Commerce, which Lutnick leads.
Congressional members will use the upcoming hearings to press officials on why Megaspid was not blacklisted sooner and what oversight, if any, the Commerce Department exercised regarding the company’s alleged role in the espionage episode.
Photo: press material from the event
