During Thursday’s edition of CNN’s “The Arena,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and former NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang should testify before Congress over the reported approval of $4 billion in advanced chip sales. Kennedy said lawmakers need to determine why the chips were sold, whether officials tracked their destination and how they verified that the technology reached the company involved rather than the Chinese Communist Party.
Kennedy said, “[A]pparently, the Department of Commerce approved the sale of $4 billion in advanced chips to the spy’s company. I want answers—not only from the CEO, but also from the Secretary of the Treasury and, especially, the Secretary of Commerce. Why were the chips sold? Did officials follow the trail? How do they know the chips went to the company and not to the Communist Party of China? This entire situation is an intergalactic freak show. We’re talking about the leader of one of the world’s most powerful companies—someone who, more than almost anyone else in the private sector, has influenced America’s AI policy and its approach to China. Then we find out about this.”
Kennedy added that, if he were Lutnick, “I would have called a press conference by now. I understand that he needs to consult with his colleagues, his attorneys and everyone else. But I would already have gone before the American people through the media and said, ‘I’ll stay here as long as you need. I’m ready to answer every question.’ He hasn’t done that. Maybe there’s a valid reason. But he will be called to testify before Congress.”