Washington — GOP Senator Seeks Subpoenas for Trump Jr., Hunter Biden

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, sent a letter Monday to the Senate Judiciary Committee's leaders asking them to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden to testify about their business dealings, according to NBC News.

The request followed a ProPublica report, cited by NBC News, that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who has ties to President Vladimir Putin, funded a post-wedding celebration for Trump Jr. in the Caribbean in May.

Why Is Curtis Requesting These Subpoenas?

Curtis addressed the letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asking that both Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, provide testimony about "their past business dealings, relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts or other benefits they have received, and any instances in which their relationship to the President was invoked or understood to provide value," NBC News reported.

Curtis said the reports about the wedding celebration "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." He added that such arrangements "also may create expectations of a returned favor that would not be in the best interests of the American people or our allies, and could even create national security vulnerabilities," according to the letter quoted by NBC News.

What Did Curtis Say About the Trump Jr. Wedding Party?

In a post on X Tuesday, Curtis drew a distinction between ordinary wedding gifts and the Caribbean celebration, writing: "A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else," per NBC News.

Curtis also invoked the precedent set by his own party's past scrutiny of the Biden family, writing that "Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden's foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now," and adding that "'Trust us' was not enough then," NBC News reported, noting the post was cut off in the material reviewed.

What Has Hunter Biden Said About His Business Dealings?

Curtis's letter noted that Hunter Biden has "denied involving his father in his business dealings," NBC News reported. The senator nonetheless suggested Biden benefited from his father's time in public office, according to the letter.

What Happens Next With the Subpoena Request?

The letter puts the decision in the hands of Grassley and Durbin, who lead the Judiciary Committee and would need to act on Curtis's request for the panel to issue subpoenas to Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden. NBC News did not report a response from either committee leader, Trump Jr., or Hunter Biden as of the story's publication Tuesday.

The request comes as Republicans, who spent much of the prior Congress investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business ties, now face a call from within their own party to apply the same scrutiny to the president's son.

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