Lutnick’s Data Center Ties Face Democratic Lawmaker Scrutiny (1)

A group of congressional Democrats has asked a government watchdog to probe whether Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is violating ethics guidelines by promoting data center projects that could enrich his family.

Twenty-five Democrats, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, wrote in a letter to the department’s inspector general that Lutnick could be breaking conflict of interest rules by boosting artificial intelligence data centers while his former investment firm, Cantor Fitzgerald LP, is invested in Newmark Group Inc., a real estate broker that facilitates leases for the centers.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during a roundtable at the White House on Dec. 10.

Photographer: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg

When Lutnick stepped down as chief executive officer of ...