Curtis calls for subpoena of Trump Jr. after wedding controversy — but lumps in Hunter Biden too

SALT LAKE CITY — John Curtis wants the U.S. Senate to question Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden over their business and personal dealings while their fathers were serving in or seeking office.

The Republican senator from Utah asked top members of the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Trump Jr. and Biden as part of an investigation into potential influence peddling, in a letter sent Tuesday obtained by KSL.

This comes just days after Curtis criticized a wedding after-party for President Donald Trump's oldest son in the Bahamas that was financed by a Russian oligarch. Curtis said the arrangement "just stinks" and amounts to "corruption." The president said his son paid the oligarch back.

"Americans deserve confidence that public institutions serve them — not presidents, political parties, wealthy interests, or members of powerful families," Curtis wrote. "Congress has an obligation to pursue credible concerns wherever they lead and without regard to party."

'Legitimate questions'

In his letter, Curtis cited Trump Jr.'s wedding party, which was first reported by ProPublica. According to the outlet, Umar Kremlev, an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, secretly paid for the party in May in the Bahamas where Trump Jr. was celebrating his wedding to Bettina Anderson.

Curtis also raised Trump Jr.'s "active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, his continued pursuit of international real estate deals involving direct meetings with foreign heads of state, and his reported investments in defense contracting.

Additionally, Curtis called out Hunter Biden's high-profile roles with foreign companies and said there is "little question" that he received increased "access, name recognition, and influence that materially enhanced his value in business dealings and opened doors that otherwise may have remained closed" thanks to positions held by his father, former President Joe Biden.

"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. "They 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."

Sen. John Curtis to Senate Judiciary Committee

Using connections for personal benefit?

According to Forbes, Trump Jr.'s net worth was estimated at around $300 million in December 2025. That's six times higher than it was just over a year earlier when his father won the presidential election in November 2024. Forbes attributed much of that increase to his family's cryptocurrency business.

NBC News reported in 2022 that Hunter Biden and his company took in around $11 million from his roles as an attorney, as a board member with a Ukrainian energy company, and his work with a Chinese businessman. In late 2024, as Biden was set to be sentenced for convictions on federal gun and tax evasion charges, he was pardoned by his father, NBC reported.

House Republicans previously looked into Hunter Biden's business dealings as part of a nearly yearlong impeachment investigation into his father.

Curtis asked the committee to examine whether family members of presidents have used their connections to benefit themselves.

"The purpose of such an inquiry should be straightforward: establish the facts, determine whether existing ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws apply, and identify reforms necessary to prevent the presidency from becoming a vehicle for private enrichment by those closest to it," wrote Curtis, who is not a member of the committee.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a vocal defender of the president and has not commented on the reports of Kremlev paying for the wedding after-party.

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