Hawley urges DOJ probe of Chinese trucking company

The letter, sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital, asks the Justice Department to open a formal investigation into the autonomous truck company TuSimple Holdings, a Chinese-owned company and one of the largest self-driving truck companies in the U.S. 

"These reports also revealed communications from TuSimple personnel inside China requesting the shipment of sensitive Nvidia AI chips and detailed records showing 'deep and longstanding ties' with Chinese military-affiliated manufacturers," Hawley said. 

"If the reports about TuSimple are accurate, they represent not just a violation of export law, but a breach of national trust and a direct threat to American technological leadership," Hawley said. 

"The American people deserve to know how and why a supposedly U.S.-based company was allowed to serve as a conduit for the transfer of sensitive innovations to the Chinese Communist Party," he added.

According to the Wall Street Journal report, TuSimple's actions helped shape new Commerce Department regulations, which blocked the sale of internet-linked cars and different components with links to China. According to the report, a CFIUS investigation determined TuSimple's tech sharing did not violate the official national security agreement- but the company was fined for other infractions, and ultimately paid out a $6 million settlement. 

The letter comes as Hawley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, has emerged as one of the Senate's more vocal critics of the Chinese Communist Party, especially as it relates to the conduct of certain U.S. companies, and the sharing of certain intellectual property.