Utah Sen. John Curtis is urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden, pressing the panel to uncover any conflicts of interest in their personal business dealings while their fathers were in office.
Curtis sent a letter to Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on Monday requesting the committee launch an inquiry into potential misuses of presidential family relationships for financial benefit, preferential treatment, or special access to certain people. The request comes after reports last week that Trump Jr. accepted a lavish wedding after-party as a gift from a Russian oligarch, raising concerns about foreign influence.
“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,” Curtis wrote in the letter obtained by the Deseret News. “Americans deserve confidence that public institutions serve them — not presidents, political parties, wealthy interests, or members of powerful families. Congress has an obligation to pursue credible concerns wherever they lead and without regard to party.”
Curtis first responded to those reports in a social media video last week, calling it “corruption” and vowing to take action. President Donald Trump swatted down concerns about the after-party last week, telling reporters that he believes his son repaid the Russian official, but even if he hadn’t, accepting the gift would have been “totally allowed.”
Curtis cited those reports in his letter explaining his request for a swift investigation, noting it raises “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.”
“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,” he wrote.
Curtis contended the inquiry should also extend to Biden, who has been the subject of investigation by congressional Republicans for years over his business dealings in countries such as Ukraine and China. Biden has repeatedly said his father was not part of his financial dealings, which the former president has echoed.
Still, Curtis wants Biden to be subpoenaed alongside Trump Jr., noting “there is little question that President Biden’s decades in public office gave his son a degree of access, name recognition, and influence that materially enhanced his value in business dealings and opened doors that otherwise may have remained closed.”
“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,” Curtis said, referring to the Republican-led investigations into Biden. “Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands.”
It’s not yet clear whether the Judiciary Committee will agree to investigating the pair of presidents’ sons — or how quickly it could come together. The Senate is scheduled to leave at the end of September and won’t return until after the midterm elections.
The Deseret News contacted Grassley for comment.