GOP senator calls for investigation into Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding celebration funds

By Lauren Fox, Morgan Rimmer, CNN

(CNN) — Republican Sen. John Curtis is requesting that the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate after a report that a Russian oligarch helped to fund parts of a wedding celebration for the president’s son Donald Trump Jr.

The Utah Republican asked in a letter for the committee to review the business dealings of the families of President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, writing it is an essential move toward restoring trust in the government.

The request comes after the investigative outlet ProPublica reported last week that Umar Kremlev, a Kremlin-linked Russian oligarch, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump Jr.’s wedding celebration in the Bahamas.

Curtis requested the committee “launch an investigation into the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests,” he wrote in the letter to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dick Durbin.

It marked a rare occasion of a Republican calling for an investigation into the president’s family’s business dealings.

“As part of that investigation, I urge the Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden to testify regarding 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,” Curtis added.

Grassley was noncommittal Tuesday on launching an investigation or subpoenaing Donald Trump Jr., emphasizing that the decision to launch a probe isn’t quick.

“I just want you to know that any individual senator, including Sen. Curtis himself, has power of oversight,” the Iowa Republican said, adding, “I’m going to take his request seriously and sit down with staff and see what we can do.”

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who also sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Trump Jr. exercised “colossally bad judgment” and asked “what on earth would possess someone” to accept the money. However, the retiring North Carolina lawmaker noted that the Senate is in a time crunch before lawmakers head home to campaign.

“If I were Donald Trump Jr., I’d be offering this up immediately. Just lay it out there,” he said, adding, that “on its face, it looks pretty dumb.”

Sen. John Cornyn, another member of the panel, agreed that an investigation is appropriate.

“I think the chairman got a letter Friday, so I think he wants to do his due diligence, but I would support Sen. Curtis’ request,” the outgoing Texas Republican said.

Before leaving office, Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden, who faced sentencing for federal tax and gun convictions. Hunter Biden had also been scrutinized for his controversial foreign business dealings.

Durbin, the top Democratic lawmaker on the Judiciary Committee, said he joined Curtis in calling for Trump Jr. to be investigated, although he noted that Hunter Biden already had a sworn deposition to Congress in 2024.

President Trump, for his part, said last week that his son paid back the Russian billionaire, adding that it was common for someone’s friend to pay for a wedding celebration.

“A person that he knows — I guess, a friend of his — gave him a wedding party. That’s very common. I’ve heard of many people giving wedding parties,” the president said.

Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Anderson, previously confirmed in a statement on social media that Kremlev funded aspects of their wedding party, and defended their acceptance of the gift, saying the celebration came after the actual wedding ceremony.

“It’s unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply because of who someone is or where they come from,” they wrote in a post on Anderson’s Instagram account. “Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift.”

Curtis previously raised concerns about Kremlev bankrolling the wedding celebration. “To me, it just stinks. It’s corruption, I don’t like it,” Curtis said in a video posted to his social media account last week.

“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 in the letter. “Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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