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House Republicans consider issuing subpoena to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang
Several House Republicans called for a closed-door briefing.
The Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Brian Mast, told ABC News on Tuesday that he's prepared to subpoena Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang if he does not respond by Wednesday to a request from several House Republicans for a closed-door briefing on Huang's reported relationship with an alleged Chinese spy.
Last week, Mast as well as Rick Crawford, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, and John Moolenaar, the chair of the House China Committee, sent Huang a letter requesting he appear for a "joint, closed-door briefing."
The focus of the briefing would be on Nvidia's "security protocols against foreign adversary espionage" after the tech giant on Sunday announced an investigation into its CEO following New York Times' reporting that he had an affair with an alleged Chinese government agent, identified as Alice Huang, a top executive at Singapore-based data company Megaspeed.
Jensen Huang has not yet responded to the Republicans' request that he appear for a briefing. Asked by ABC News if he would consider issuing a subpoena to Huang should he not respond, Mast said "absolutely."
It's unclear how a potential subpoena of Huang would play out. House Republicans lose control of their committees in January when the chamber turns over to Democrats. The subpoena would likely expire and Democrats would need to issue a new one.
ABC News reached out to Nvidia for comment from Huang for this story.
Congressional Republicans on the Select Committee on China also sent a letter to Huang requesting that he appear for a closed-door briefing Nov. 18 concerning his relationship with Alice Huang. It is not known if Huang will appear before that committee; Nvidia hasn't publicly responded to the request.
Mast said there is a "lengthy" list of things he wants to hear from the Nvidia CEO including what correspondence he had with the Chinese government. Mast added that he is "100%" worried about the national security implications of Huang's reported relationship given that he runs the world's largest computer chip manufacturer.
"They're American chips. You know. So we thank God that Jensen is an American entrepreneur. You know, it's an American tech company because they're the best chips anywhere in the globe," Mast said. "But that being said, we don't want China to access them, to use them, to produce them like that."
Nvidia's board said they have "no reason to believe that either national security or Nvidia secrets were compromised" by Huang's affair.
Huang "fully supports the review" and will cooperate with it, the Nvidia statement further said.
Several Democrats have expressed concerns about national security after the report, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries telling ABC News that there are "real concerns" that need to be addressed.
"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 America's national security," Jeffries said.
On Monday, President Donald Trump said the FBI is investigating the matter. Trump said he spoke with Huang in a phone call on Monday, during which the CEO said that he "didn't know" he was involved with an alleged Chinese spy.
"He said he had absolutely no idea that the person in question was a spy," the president told reporters during a press briefing on Monday.
It's unclear when -- if ever -- the Trump administration alerted Nvidia that its CEO was the target of an alleged Chinese espionage plot.
The Chinese government has denied the allegations, calling them "baseless and purely slanderous smears against China."
Neither Alice Huang nor her employer, Megaspeed International, responded to ABC News' request for comment about the New York Times story on the relationship.
