U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) is asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Donald Trump Jr.’s business dealings and wedding celebrations financed by a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin.
Two Republican members of the committee are supporting an investigation of the president’s eldest son.
“I’m with Sen. Curtis,” U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said after a Republican leadership meeting. “I would support Sen. Curtis’s request.”
GOP Sen. John Cornyn, a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, said he would support the panel investigating Trump Jr.
“I’m with Sen. Curtis,” Cornyn said after a GOP leadership meeting. “I would support Sen. Curtis’s request.”—The Hill https://t.co/lOSf8bmk45 pic.twitter.com/cDeGRUTPve
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 23, 2026
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), another Judiciary Committee member, said he would “have no problem” with an investigation after the midterm elections.
“If I were Donald Trump Jr., I’d be offering this up immediately,” Tillis said. “Just lay it out there. How on earth did this happen? Because on its face, it looks pretty dumb.”
In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-IL), Curtis urged the committee to subpoena Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden and investigate“the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests.”
The wedding gift to Trump Jr. is central to Curtis’s request.
“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else,” Curtis wrote on social media. “Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now.”
A toaster is a wedding gift. 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. We should not unplug it now. ‘Trust us’ was not enough then, and it… pic.twitter.com/dcWqUO6e2X
— Senator John Curtis (@SenJohnCurtis) September 22, 2026
Curtis cited a ProPublica investigation that found Russian businessman Umar Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on celebrations — including a fireworks display — surrounding Trump Jr.’s May wedding in the Bahamas.
Kremlev also paid to rent one of the private islands where guests stayed and attended a reception, according to the report.
[NOTE: Kremlev is president of the International Boxing Association and has received a state honor from Putin. Ukraine sanctioned him in 2023, citing his connections to Putin and Russian security services.]
Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, confirmed Kremlev’s involvement and called the spending “an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend.”
President Trump, who said he does not know Kremlev, announced that his son would reimburse him. Reuters reported that a person familiar with the matter also said Trump Jr. intended to repay him.
Curtis also raised questions about Trump Jr.’s promotion of cryptocurrency ventures, international real estate deals, prediction markets and investments involving defense contractors.
“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.
Durbin called Curtis’s proposal a “good faith request,” writing: “In fairness, Hunter Biden and Donald Trump Jr. should both come before the Senate Judiciary Committee.”
Corruption must never be tolerated. @SenJohnCurtis has made a good faith request that the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate the lavish gift of a Russian oligarch to President Trump’s son as well as any wrongdoing by the son of former President Biden.
In fairness, Hunter… https://t.co/Gd6qMhySRk
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) September 22, 2026
Hunter Biden said he was prepared to testify without being subpoenaed. “Bring it on,” the younger Biden wrote, in response to Curtis’s letter.
Sen. Curtis of Utah has suggested that Don Jr. and I should testify before Congress.
I say bring it on. I’ve already given more than seven hours of sworn testimony. More than three dozen witnesses testified across two chambers.
I had no foreign business dealings while my…
— Hunter Biden (@HunterBiden) September 22, 2026