Republicans on Capitol Hill are negotiating for now-resigned Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to appear before Congress.
Page F141From§Eachthe evening edition — 13 November 2026
THE STAKE
Lutnick's softer line shielding Nvidia earns him a Senate summons beside the CEO it couldn't save.
As it ran on the front
Start with the subpoena, because that is the news. Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, has summoned both Jensen Huang and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to testify in December — the man who quit and the man who regulated him, in the same room, on the record, for the first time.
Walk back to why there is anything to testify about. Huang resigned as Nvidia's chief executive Thursday after reports of an affair with a woman U.S. officials suspect of passing intelligence to Beijing; the stock gave back nearly $500 billion the same day, and Huang forfeits $108 million of his own fortune on the way out. Trump had weighed in before the affair even had a name — on September 15 he phoned Huang onstage in Los Angeles to wave off calls for AI safety regulation — and he kept weighing in after: The Guardian asked, on November 9, why he'd ignored warnings that he'd been briefed on the affair more than a year earlier; Schumer, on November 10, called that a "dereliction of duty."…
…(cont) Lutnick's filing runs on a parallel track. The New York Times reports he took a softer line on Nvidia even as calls grew for tougher export controls. The Guardian reports his own department sat on warnings about the alleged spy's ties to Huang and dragged on adding the chip buyer Megaspeed to the trade blacklist — a delay now serious enough that Lutnick himself may be fired over it.
Here is the number the money desk already filed, and nobody in that December hearing room gets to un-file it: Lutnick's sons hold $362 million in Nvidia stock, through a disclosure arrangement Congress has not closed. $362 million is more than three times the $108 million Huang forfeits. One number belongs to the executive who lost his job over the company. The other belongs to the family of the official whose department decides how much of that company's product reaches buyers like Megaspeed.
CBS News adds the number for people outside Washington: the same stock that cost Huang $108 million sits inside the retirement accounts of workers who never met either man, and its fall is already being counted against their balances. The sons' stake isn't counted against anything. It doesn't trade; it sits, hon — the forfeiture doesn't sit, it comes out.
Put Huang's forfeiture, the sons' holding and the falling retirement balance in front of the same committee in December, and the only thing left unasked is who in that room has anything left to lose.
“Lutnick spent the year going easy on Nvidia's chip sales, and his reward is a seat beside the guy who just cost the company half a trillion dollars. Funny how getting summoned and getting caught turn out to be two different clubs — one testifies, the other just answers politely and keeps the stock. The sons still hold $362 million either way; that part doesn't change seats in December.”
“Look, the Commerce Department reviews these export decisions very carefully, it's not "soft," it's thorough — due diligence, that's the actual term, I didn't just make that up. And the sons' holdings, I mean, every family has some kind of portfolio — okay, most families don't have $362 million in the one stock the department regulates, but that's not — wait, did I say "totally normal"? Scratch that.”
Earlier in this story
- The Commerce Secretary's sons hold more than three times what Nvidia's CEO forfeited for crashing the company. By Ruth · the afternoon edition, 12 November 2026
- Massie's petition hits exactly 218 signatures, the number he predicted in September, on schedule. By Ruth · the afternoon edition, 11 November 2026
- Hegseth's impeachment fails 211-204, outlives its own verdict by week's end. By Lou · the afternoon edition, 11 November 2026
- Hegseth calls his impeachment a farce; Republicans agree, killing it a week after losing the House. By Lou · the evening edition, 11 November 2026
- Hegseth calls his own impeachment a 'farce.' The senator who may convict him isn't so sure. By Lou · the evening edition, 10 November 2026
- Hegseth calls sinking boats and striking Iran 'the job, and it's the job well done.' By Lou · the afternoon edition, 10 November 2026
The receipts
Nvidia's stock declined sharply this week amid Jensen Huang's affair with an alleged Chinese spy, which led to his resignation as CEO. The decline is set to hit retirement accounts invested in funds that own Nvidia shares. Sabrina Escobar, a reporter at Barron's, joins "The Daily Report" to break it down.
The AI chip boss’s actions raise urgent questions about corporate influence, national security and the US president’s willingness to listen to intelligence warnings It could be the plot of a spy thriller. One of the most powerful figures in the AI revolution admitted to having an affair with a Chinese businesswomen said to have passed…
President Trump called outgoing Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and told him to fight for his job ahead of his resignation, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing two people briefed on the conversation. Huang resigned as CEO of one of the world’s most valuable companies after reports emerged of multiple extramarital affairs, including…
Senator Tim Scott said he had requested that the Nvidia co-founder and the commerce secretary appear before the Senate Banking Committee.
Critics say Howard Lutnick, the commerce secretary, and his department have shielded Nvidia as concerns have grown over A.I. chip sales to firms like Megaspeed.
President Trump defended Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang after the company's board announced it was investigating Huang's relationship with an alleged Chinese spy. NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell and Brian Cheung discuss the national security implications of Huang's affair considering his role in the global growth of AI and his vicinity to President…
US politicians have called Jensen Huang, an architect of the artificial intelligence boom, to face their questions in December after the Nvidia ex-CEO quit over extramarital affairs.
US commerce secretary faces sack as warnings emerge about alleged Chinese spy’s ties to Jensen Huang and delays in adding Megaspeed to trade blacklist Analysis: Jensen Huang built an AI kingdom. Now he’s gone, will Nvidia’s ramparts be breached? One of Donald Trump’s top lieutenants reportedly could soon be fired, as criticism mounts…
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed President Trump over his association with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang following reports about the tech leader having an intimate relationship with alleged Chinese spy Alice Huang. “The press reports that Trump was briefed more than a year ago that Nvidia’s CEO was having an affair with a…
Lawmakers have called Jensen Huang to face their questions in December after the ex-CEO quit over extramarital affairs, including one with a suspected Chinese spy.
The DOJ disbanded its crypto enforcement team in April 2025 and ordered inconsistent investigations closed - while the president's family runs a crypto business CNBC, 8 April 2025 (Blanche memo)
Trump Had Urged Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to Fight for His JobThe president called the Nvidia chief on Tuesday, continuing a pattern of supporting him even as the spy scandal was intensifying.
Huang abruptly quit on Thursday as head of one of the world's most valuable companies after revelations of alleged extramarital affairs.
Former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who was also requested to testify, had previously praised the commerce secretary for his support and involvement in the industry.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) called on Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to testify before the Senate banking committee as a scandal involving the onetime chief executive and a Chinese spy has begun to boil over. Scott, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, sent letters to […]
· Nvidia’s Jensen Huang Gets Onstage Call From Trump, Who Dismissed A.I. Safety Concerns from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.