Republican demands probe of Don Jr. wedding bash funded by Putin ally - USA Today
WASHINGTON – A prominent Republican senator is demanding a congressional investigation into one of President Donald Trump's sons after a Russian oligarch bankrolled his private island wedding party in the Bahamas in May.
The blistering criticism from Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, represented a striking departure from the GOP's general reluctance to wield its congressional oversight powers to meaningfully scrutinize the Trump family.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump Jr. and his new wife, Bettina, confirmed what they called an "extraordinarily generous wedding gift" from their "dear friend" Umar Kremlev, the president of the International Boxing Association, an organization that has been criticized for its ties to the Russian government. The investigative news outlet ProPublica reported on Sept. 14 that Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on wedding-related expenses for the couple, renting out a private island and footing the bill for a fireworks show.
Curtis said he was alarmed by the reporting, which he said raised legitimate questions about foreign access to the Trump family. In a letter to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he urged the panel to subpoena Don Jr. and open a broader probe into "presidential families' business dealings," also including the Biden family.
"A toaster is a wedding gift," Curtis said in a statement. "A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else."
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the ranking member of the committee, said he would support Curtis' demand.
"Corruption at the highest levels of our government should never be tolerated," Durbin said in a statement. "Senator Curtis 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."
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the committee's chairman, told reporters in the halls of the Capitol he wouldn't comment on Curtis' request before reading his GOP colleague's letter. Asked why he hadn't read it yet, he said, "I just got to town."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, said moments afterward that he didn't have "enough information" about the issue to recommend a path forward. He left it up to Grassley to determine whether a committee probe or a subpoena of Don Jr. would be warranted.
In a Sept. 14 social media post, Bettina Trump denied any impropriety, arguing that "generosity doesn't automatically come with an agenda."
"Sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift," she wrote.
President Trump suggested to reporters on Sept. 18 that his son would pay Kremlev back for the festivities.
"It's totally allowed," he said. "But as I understand it, he paid him back. He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back."
This story has been updated to add new information.
Zachary Schermele is the congressional correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach him by email at zschermele@usatoday.com and on Signal @zachschermele.02. Follow him on X at @ZachSchermele.
