Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) sent a letter on Monday, September 21, 2026, to the leadership of the Senate Judiciary Committee requesting an investigation into the business activities of Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden. Curtis asked Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and ranking member Dick Durbin (D-IL) to subpoena both men to testify about their past financial dealings and relationships with foreign entities.
The request follows reports that Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev paid for expenses related to Donald Trump Jr.’s three-day wedding celebration in the Bahamas earlier this year. Curtis stated that the country should not have differing standards for the families of Republican and Democratic presidents and argued that congressional oversight should continue regardless of which party controls the White House.
In his letter, Curtis detailed concerns regarding Donald Trump Jr.’s involvement in family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, international real estate deals, and defense contracting. Regarding Hunter Biden, Curtis cited his business dealings with entities in China and Ukraine during the time his father, former President Joe Biden, held or sought public office. The senator stated that these relationships raise questions about whether foreign interests could expect favorable treatment from a sitting president's family.
The scope of the requested inquiry includes a review of private financial benefits, preferential treatment, or access granted to domestic and foreign interests. For Donald Trump Jr., this includes specific scrutiny of his advisory ties to prediction market platforms, which Curtis noted are currently subject to federal regulatory decisions by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), an agency that oversees U.S. derivatives markets. For Hunter Biden, the investigation would revisit long-standing questions regarding his board seats and consulting work for foreign firms while his father served as vice president.
The action by Curtis comes several weeks before the scheduled midterm elections, a period where Republican senators have generally avoided actions that might conflict with the sitting president. The knock-on effects could include a shift in how the Senate Judiciary Committee handles oversight of presidential relatives, potentially setting a precedent for bipartisan investigations into the families of executive branch officials. It is not yet known if Chairman Grassley or Sen. Durbin will act on the request; no hearing dates or votes on subpoenas have been scheduled as of Tuesday, September 22, 2026.