Curtis seeks Trump Jr. subpoena over Russian wedding gift — SkimNews
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- Senator John Curtis (R-Utah) asked the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., citing his business dealings, ties to foreign individuals, gifts received, and any situation in which his relationship to the president was "invoked or understood to provide value."
- Umar Kremlev, head of the International Boxing Association and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, helped pay to rent a private island and fund a fireworks display at Trump Jr.'s May wedding to socialite Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas.
- Curtis demanded the same standard apply to Hunter Biden, writing to committee chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking Democrat Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) that "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."
- President Trump defended Kremlev's involvement in the wedding but said the money would be repaid; he did not attend his son's wedding.
- ProPublica first reported the Kremlev funding last week, prompting Curtis to call the gift "corruption" in a social media video on Friday and to note that Republicans "nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden's foreign relationships."
- The letter reflects growing Republican willingness to publicly break with Trump, driven by the war in Iran, high petrol prices, and concern about midterm election prospects — a notable step from a senator first elected in 2024 who had pledged not to fear disagreeing with the president.
Why it matters: Curtis is testing whether the GOP's aggressive Hunter Biden oversight playbook applies symmetrically to a sitting Republican president's family. If the Judiciary Committee moves on the subpoena, Trump Jr. faces formal examination of foreign financial ties during his father's presidency — and a Republican senator just demonstrated there is now daylight to demand it.
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