WASHINGTON - The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has not reached any conclusions about whether a Chinese businesswoman reportedly linked to former Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has ties to Chinese intelligence, Attorney General Todd Blanche said Thursday, confirming that the FBI is examining the matter.
Anadolu Ajansi reported Blanche, speaking at a news conference following the announcement of an international law enforcement operation targeting opioid and fentanyl traffickers operating on the dark web, was asked when the Justice Department first learned that Alice Huang might be a suspected Chinese intelligence asset.
He rejected the suggestion that the department had established that she was a spy, emphasising that no such determination had been made.
"Your first question assumes something that I have never said and that I don't know to be true. So you assumed that the DOJ has learned that she is in fact a spy. Nobody said that. I certainly haven't said that," Blanche told a reporter.
He stressed that the investigation had not produced any conclusions about the woman's identity or possible intelligence connections.
"There's no conclusions reached by the Department of Justice or by me or by (FBI) Director (Kash) Patel around who she is or is not," he said.
Blanche confirmed that the FBI was looking into the matter but declined to provide further details about the investigation.
"Of course, the FBI looks at things like this and is looking at it, and beyond that, I don't have a comment," he added.
The Nvidia chief resigned Thursday following revelations of alleged extramarital affairs, including a reported relationship with Chinese businesswoman Alice Huang, whose possible ties to Chinese intelligence have drawn scrutiny and raised questions about the chipmaker's national security exposure.
Alice Huang has held stakes in companies that have benefited Huawei, the chipmaker's leading rival in the Chinese market, said a CNBC report.
Beijing has denied claims that she is working as a spy. - BERNAMA