A Republican senator is reportedly breaking with his party to call for a formal probe into Donald Trump Jr. and the Trump family’s business dealings, insisting that both the president’s son and Hunter Biden should be brought before the Senate Judiciary Committee to answer questions under oath.
Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) pointed to Americans’ eroding trust in the federal government as a driving factor behind his request, along with recent reporting that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev helped bankroll a lavish afterparty following Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding. Curtis is urging the Judiciary Committee to examine what he described as “the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests.”
In a letter sent Monday to Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL), Curtis also invoked Hunter Biden’s overseas business activity in Ukraine during his father Joe Biden’s presidency as further justification for launching an investigation.
“These reports raise legitimate questions about foreign access to members of a sitting president’s family and whether such relationships can create actual or perceived expectations of favorable treatment,” Curtis wrote, adding that such arrangements “could even create national security vulnerabilities.”
The Utah senator emphasized that scrutiny should apply evenly regardless of political party. “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,” he wrote, arguing that “congressional oversight” should not stop “when control of the White House changes hands.”
Curtis formally asked the Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into whether presidential relatives have used their family ties for financial gain or special access. He specifically called for subpoenas compelling both Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden to testify about their business dealings, foreign relationships, gifts received, and any occasions where their connection to the sitting president may have been leveraged for personal advantage.
According to Curtis, the goal of such an inquiry would be to “establish the facts, determine whether existing ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws apply, and identify reforms necessary to prevent the presidency from becoming a vehicle for private enrichment by those closest to it.”
The push comes after Trump Jr. and his new wife, Bettina Andersen, pushed back against reports tying Kremlev to their wedding celebration. The couple denied any wrongdoing, characterizing the oligarch’s contribution as “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful.”
It remains to be seen whether Grassley and Durbin will act on Curtis’ request, or whether the Judiciary Committee will move forward with subpoenas for either Trump Jr. or Hunter Biden. Curtis’ willingness to publicly call for scrutiny of a fellow Republican’s family, alongside his Democratic predecessor’s son, marks a notable departure from typical partisan lines on the issue.
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