‘A Toaster Is a Wedding Gift’
A Republican member of the Senate broke party ranks on Monday in a letter to the chair and ranking members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking that the panel subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and gather more facts about his “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.”
In his letter, Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) argued that his colleagues were being hypocritical in their singular focus on President Biden’s son Hunter Biden throughout the former president’s entire term while turning a blind eye to Don Jr. and the “questions” that have “arisen about the relationships of President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., with foreign business figures and the acceptance of significant gifts. These include a lavish wedding afterparty, on a private island, provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Vladimir Putin shortly before giving the gift.”
“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else,” Curtis continued. “Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now.”
In his letter to Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dick Durbin (R-IL), the chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, respectively, Curtis also argued that Hunter Biden should be dragged back before the panel as well, and urged the committee to “launch an investigation into the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests.”
“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. Nor should congressional oversight begin and end when control of the White House changes hands,” Curtis wrote.
Curtis is not up for reelection until 2030, so he does not fit neatly within the (minor) trend of Republicans gently bucking the president ahead of what polls say could be a dismal midterm election for the GOP. A handful of Republican members of Congress up for reelection have called out Trump on his immigration policies or the war in Iran or on data centers — an issue that is becoming a major flashpoint for Republicans this cycle, even in red states, as Trump refuses to allow for any nuanced position on the matter (due to his whole being in bed with Big Tech thing).
Curtis had previously described reports of Don Jr.’s lavish wedding gift from a Russian oligarch as “corruption.” ProPublica uncovered the cartoonishly venal episode, which involved Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev funding the post-wedding festivities for Don Jr. and his new wife on exclusive islands in the Bahamas. Kremlev has close ties to President Vladimir Putin. President Trump has claimed that his son paid Kremlev back for the extravagant vacation. Don Jr.’s wife is, apparently, still confused about what the issue is.
Grassley has not yet responded to the letter from Curtis, but Durbin posted a statement on Tuesday. He mildly countered Curtis’ claims about Hunter Biden, arguing the former president’s son has “already given Congress a sworn deposition on this issue” but said he supports Curtis’ request for transparency.
“Corruption must never be tolerated. @SenJohnCurtis 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,” Durbin wrote in a post on X. “In fairness, Hunter Biden has already given Congress a sworn deposition on this issue. Donald Trump Jr. has not. To ignore this is to run the risk of being complicit. I will join in supporting Senator Curtis’ request of the Judiciary Committee.”
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Heh heh heh.
Don Jr. might want to take a “few pointers” from this episode of Seinfeld. Just sayin’
dick durbin is a democrat, not a republican, as the article labels him early on.
You sure the “R” doesn’t stand for “retiring?”
Indeed, he is a Democrat. It only feels like he is a Republican.