A Republican senator demanded Monday that the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoena both first son Donald Trump Jr. and former first son Hunter Biden to investigate whether either or both men unlawfully used their proximity to the White House for money or other perks.
The request by Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) is the first known call by a GOP legislator for a probe of the current president’s family and followed the disclosure that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev footed the bill for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding festivities in the Bahamas earlier this year.
“The country should not have to accept one standard for the family of a Republican president and another for the family of a Democratic president,” Curtis wrote to committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). “Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands.”
Curtis cited the younger Trump’s “active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting” in calling for an investigation of “the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests.”
Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden would be asked to explain “their past business dealings, relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts, or other benefits they have received, and any instances in which their relationship to the President was invoked or understood to provide value,” the lawmaker added.
Curtis, who was elected to the Senate in 2024 to succeed noted Trump critic Mitt Romney, denounced the arrangement between Trump Jr. and Kremlev in a social media post last week.
“To me, it just stinks,” he said at the time. “It’s corruption. I don’t like it … this is a big deal.”
“A toaster is a wedding gift,” Curtis added Tuesday after his letter to Grassley and Durbin became public. “A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else.
“Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships,” he added. “We should not unplug it now. ‘Trust us’ was not enough then, and it is not enough now.”
ProPublica initially reported that Kremlev, a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin who is best known as the head of the International Boxing Association, covered the cost of several expenses related to the May 21 nuptials of Trump Jr., and his now-wife, Bettina — including paying for an additional private island to host the reception as well as a fireworks show.
Bettina Trump defended the arrangement earlier this week, saying Kremlev was merely acting as a “close friend” when he footed the bill.
“Our dear friend Umar very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations for us AFTER our wedding,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.”
The president, first lady Melania Trump and their son, Barron, did not attend, but Don Jr.’s other siblings — Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany — joined Kremlev and around 50 others for the occasion.
On Friday, the president said his son had paid back Kremlev, but otherwise said he saw nothing amiss.
“It’s totally allowed, and a lot of people have parties, but it’s totally allowed … I’ve given wedding parties to numerous people,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. “They get married. I give them a party. I give them parties at beautiful places like Mar-a-Lago and others. But I’ve given many. With all of that being said, I understand that Don’s paid him back.”
