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A Republican US senator called Tuesday for Donald Trump Jr. to be subpoenaed over a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin who helped bankroll lavish celebrations for the president's son's wedding, a rare public challenge from within President Donald Trump's own party.
Utah Senator John Curtis asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate whether members of presidential families have used their political connections for private financial gain. The request follows a ProPublica investigation reporting that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward Trump Jr.'s three-day wedding celebrations in the Bahamas in May, including the rental of a private island and a fireworks display.
Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina later confirmed Kremlev's involvement, describing him as a friend who had "very generously hosted" two nights of celebrations.
Curtis did not mince words in describing the arrangement. "A toaster is a wedding gift," he wrote on X. "A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else."
The senator, who succeeded anti-Trump Republican Mitt Romney in the Senate, has generally supported the president's agenda. But last week he described the wedding revelations as something that "just stinks," adding bluntly: "It's corruption. I don't like it."
Curtis paired his request with a call for former president Joe Biden's son Hunter to also be subpoenaed, arguing Congress should hold presidential families to the same standard regardless of political party.
"Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden's foreign relationships," Curtis said. "We should not unplug it now."
In a letter to Republican Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley and the panel's top Democrat, Dick Durbin, Curtis pointed to Trump Jr.'s cryptocurrency ventures, international real estate dealings, defense investments and ties to prediction markets. He said the reports raised questions about whether foreign interests could gain access or expect favorable treatment through relationships with a president's family.
"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, asking the committee to examine whether existing ethics and anti-corruption laws are adequate to prevent the presidency from becoming, in his words, "a vehicle for private enrichment by those closest to it."
Durbin welcomed the request, calling it a "good faith" one. But he drew a distinction between the two cases, noting that Hunter Biden had previously given a sworn deposition to Congress addressing accusations of corruption, while Donald Trump Jr. had not.
"For the committee to ignore this matter is to run the risk of being complicit in a coverup," Durbin said. "I will join in supporting Senator Curtis' request of the Senate Judiciary Committee."
It remains unclear whether Grassley, who controls the committee's agenda, will act on Curtis's request.
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