Schumer accuses Trump of defending Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at cost of national security

Democratic leader Sen. Charles Schumer ripped President Donald Trump on Tuesday for defending embattled Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at the expense of U.S. national security.

“The press reports that Trump was briefed more than a year ago that Nvidia’s CEO was having an affair with a suspected Chinese spy, and Trump didn’t do anything – anything – about it,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said on the Senate floor.

“Can you believe that?” said Schumer, the Senate’s minority leader.

Schumer’s broadside came on the heels of New York Times reports that Trump had been briefed about Huang’s extramarital affair with Megaspeed executive Alice Huang — whom U.S. intelligence concluded was a spy for China — and opted not to do anything about it.

Trump suggested to reporters on Monday that he only recently learned of the allegations about Alice Huang, and the president commented Monday that he “really” believes Jensen Huang’s claim to him directly that he had no idea Alice Huang was a spy.

“One of our most important companies that is involved in national security, and the CEO might be having an affair with a Chinese spy, and Trump did nothing about it,” Schumer said Tuesday.

“What a dereliction of duty. He’s supposed to protect America, not China, not his friends,” Schumer said. “Trump has been busy trying to defend Jensen Huang when he ought to be defending our national security. It’s that simple, it’s obvious.”

Schumer’s comments escalated growing bipartisan concern in Congress about the Nvidia CEO, whose company makes advanced chips that power artificial intelligence in the U.S. and China’s race to dominate that technology.

Schumer noted that Trump earlier this year invited Huang to join him on a state visit to Beijing, and that he took Huang’s advice by granting the People’s Republic of China “access to some of our most advanced AI chips.”

Nvidia also donated $25 million to Trump’s controversial White House ballroom project, the Democrat said.

“Despite talking a big game, Trump continues to show a troubling resistance to confront China on AI and to protect American national security,” Schumer said. “I’ve been saying it for years: our cutting-edge AI chips are too valuable to fall into the hands of potential adversaries.”

Schumer in his speech called on Republicans to join Democrats in passing several pieces of legislation — the AI OVERWATCH Act, the MATCH Act, and the Chip Security Act — which he said would “cut off China’s access to advanced American technology.”

“We also need answers on Nvidia’s influence campaign and how [it] affected the Trump administration’s national security decisions, including the loosening – the loosening – of key export controls,” Schumer said. “We need a full accounting for Trump’s failure to address foreign espionage in the American tech industry.”

CNBC has requested comment from the White House about Schumer’s remarks.

The remarks came nearly a week after Democrats won enough Senate and House races nationwide to take majority control of both chambers in January. Schumer hopes to be selected majority leader.

Regardless of which Democrats are tapped to serve as majority leaders in both chambers, the party will have the ability to launch investigations into Nvidia and Huang.

Earlier Tuesday, Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that Congress needs to “get to the bottom” of Jensen Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang.

Moolenaar, who chairs the House Permanent Select Committee on China, said he wants to know whether Huang shared privileged information with a Chinese spy; whether Huang was influenced to lobby against preventing chip sales to China; and whether China was given preference in purchasing Nvidia’s limited supply of advanced chips.

And he urged a thorough internal investigation of Huang.

“If it becomes less of an investigation, more of damage control, that’s not going to work because people have to have confidence,” Moolenaar said.

“We’re dealing with the country, the Chinese Communist Party that is a foremost adversary, that’s funding wars and supporting Russia, supporting Iran, North Korea,” he said. “And we have basically a Cold War race with technology. We cannot allow the premier company at the forefront of this to, in some way, be irresponsible.”

Congressional scrutiny of Huang’s affair has intensified since members returned to Washington on Monday, a day after Nvidia announced it was opening an independent investigation of Jensen Huang’s conduct.

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., co-chair of the House AI task force, raised concerns that the scandal could plague talks over export controls for advanced AI chips.

“It’s important not to have a personal scandal interfere with the substantive policy discussion about to what degree we should be allowing the export of cutting edge chips to our geopolitical competitors like China,” Obernolte told CNBC. “I hope this isn’t a distraction because that’s a very important conversation that needs to happen.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a press conference on Monday that “we’re going to need a full briefing specifically as it relates to the Nvidia issue so we can all get to the bottom of what has happened and what the implications are in terms of national security”

Moolenaar co-authored a letter with Florida Rep. Brian Mast and Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford on Nov. 5 asking Huang to appear before the Select Committee on China, the House Foreign Affairs Committee and House Select Committee on Intelligence. Mast chairs the foreign affairs panel, and Crawford chairs intelligence.

“Recent reports raise significant national security concerns regarding the PRC’s access to sensitive U.S. technology and information,” the three Republicans wrote.

Mast said Tuesday he did not know whether Huang had responded to the letter he authored with Moolenar and Crawford demanding the tech CEO brief them.

“I can’t say that I’ve heard an answer back yet that,” Mast told reporters at the Capitol.

Mast then rattled off a list of questions he has for Huang, including where the company has been selling chips, what Megaspeed may have been using them for, who has been remotely accessing Nvidia chips and what information was passed between Huang and the potential spy.

“Obviously questions relating to his relationship and what information was or was not passed about anything,” Mast said when asked what he wants answered.

Mast said he “can’t say it would hurt” to hear from the Commerce Department as well, noting he speaks regularly to the Bureau of Industry and Security.

“So that’s obviously something that falls directly under Commerce,” he said