WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator John Curtis cited the recently criticized business dealings of Donald Trump Jr. in a demand Tuesday to investigate the use of presidential relationships to benefit family members.
Curtis' request as a GOP senator calling out a member of the Trump family is being deemed a "bombshell" ahead of the November midterm elections.
In his request to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership, the Utah senator also called out the business interests of Hunter Biden.
"I urge the Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden to testify regarding 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," Curtis wrote.
Curtis cites the decaying lack of trust in government as the reason for an investigation, highlighting data from the Partnership for Public Service that showed only 27% of Americans trust the federal government, with 72% claiming it is “corrupt.”
Trump Jr. has come under attack after recently accepting gifts from a close friend of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, including a private island wedding afterparty.
“A Russian oligarch paid for a lavish wedding after-party for Donald Trump Jr., which to me just stinks. It’s corruption. I don’t like it,” Curtis said in a social media video, according to the Associated Press.
Curtis also referenced Trump Jr.'s cryptocurrency dealings, and his ties to prediction markets that rely on regulatory decisions made by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
"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," the senator 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."
The immediate reaction to Curtis' call to subpoena Trump Jr., as well as Hunter Biden, was one of surprise, with the non-partisan The Hill calling it a "bombshell," as "Republican senators have been hesitant about getting into the crosshairs of Trump, aside from members who are not running for reelection."