GOP senator demands probe into Trump's son
By: Zachary Schemele
USA Today
WASHINGTON - A 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 i the Bahamas in May. [2026]
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The blistering criticism from Senator John Curtis, R-Utah, represented a striking departure from the GOP's general reluctance to wiled its congressional oversight powers to meaningfully scrutinize the president's family.
..... Earlier in September, [2026] Donald Trump Jr. and his new wife, Bettina confirmed what they called an "extraordinarily generous wedding gift form their "dear friend" Umar Kremlev, the president of the International Boxing Association, an organization that has been criticized for its ties to the Russia government.
..... The investigation news outlet proPublica reported on September 12 [2026] that Kremlev spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on wedding-related expenses fro the couple, including renting out a private island and footing the bill for a fireworks show.
..... In a social media post that same day, Bettina Trump denied any impropriety, arguing the "generosity doesn't automatically come with an agenda."
..... "Sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift, she wrote.
..... Curtis said he was alarmed by the reporting, which he said raised legitimate questions about foreign access to the first family.
..... In a September 22 [2026] letter to the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, he urged the panel to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and open a broader probe into "presidential families' business dealings," including those of the Biden family, and their possible leverage by domestic and foreign entities.
..... "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."
..... Curtis raised questions about Trump Jr's business ventures, including crypto, real estate and prediction market platforms.
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"These reports raise legitimate questions about foreign access to members of a sitting president's family and whether such relationships can cerate actual or perceived expectations of favorable treatment," Curtis wrote. "They also may cerate expectations of a returned favor that would not be in the best interests of the American people or our allies, and could even cerate national security vulnerabilities."
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committee chair Santor Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he wouldn't comment before reading Curtis' 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 he would leave it to Grassley to determine whether a committee probe or subpoena would be warranted.
..... Senator Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, the ranking member of the committee, said he would support the Utah senator's demand.
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"Corruption at the highest level of our government should never be tolerated," Durbin said in a statement.
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President rump suggested to reporters on September 18 [2026] that is son would pay Kremley back for the festivities.
..... "It 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."
..... Contributing: Reuters