Republican Senator Calls for Probe Into Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden Business Dealings
U.S. Sen. John Curtis, a Utah Republican, sent a letter on Tuesday, Sept. 22, to the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee calling for a congressional investigation into Donald Trump Jr.'s foreign dealings. Al Jazeera
The letter cited a ProPublica report that found Trump Jr.'s wedding party in the Bahamas in May was funded by a Russian oligarch, a term used for a very wealthy business figure with political influence. Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina have said Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev hosted two nights of celebrations after their wedding. President Donald Trump has said his son reimbursed Kremlev for the costs. The president did not attend the wedding.
Curtis alleged Trump Jr. may have personally benefited from his relationship with the president through ties to foreign business figures and acceptance of large gifts. The letter also raised questions about Trump Jr.'s business ventures, including crypto promotion, real estate deals and prediction market platforms, sites where people trade on future outcomes. Yahoo Curtis has described the oligarch-funded party as corruption, and earlier reporting identified the oligarch as having ties to the Kremlin. The Hill
The request was framed around presidential families, in the plural. Curtis called on the committee to subpoena, or legally order to testify, Trump Jr. over his business dealings and relationships with foreign individuals and entities, and to subpoena Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, in the same inquiry. His office published the effort under the title "Curtis Calls for Investigation into Presidential Families' Business Dealings." The letter was directed to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Grassley, with Sen. Dick Durbin serving as ranking member, the top Democrat on the panel.
A spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee told the Associated Press it had received Curtis's letter but did not say whether there would be an investigation. Hunter Biden posted on X offering to testify alongside Trump Jr. without a subpoena. Curtis is not up for re-election until 2030.
The broader context here is how Congress checks private gain around public power. Oversight of relatives is legally different from oversight of officeholders themselves. It focuses on access, gifts, foreign contacts and whether an official position was used to help commercial interests. Pairing Trump Jr. with Biden is both a procedural and political choice. It seeks bipartisan backing for the Judiciary Committee and answers claims of selective enforcement, while widening the scope any inquiry would need to manage.
For the committee, what matters now is process more than the letter. A subpoena requires majority support or approval from the chair under committee rules and practice. A letter from one member, even from the majority, creates no duty to act. The spokesperson's acknowledgment keeps options open. If leaders decline, Curtis can press for hearings or document requests. If they engage, the first disputes will be over scope, time period and whether testimony is public. The signal to follow is scheduling: committee notices, unanimous consent requests and any formal memo on scope.
