A Republican senator just asked Congress to hit both Trump and Biden with the same subpoena over money, gifts, and a wedding party allegedly bankrolled by a Russian oligarch.
Quick Take
- Senator John Curtis of Utah sent a formal letter asking the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden.
- The letter asks both men to testify about foreign business ties, gifts, and any use of their fathers’ names for personal benefit.
- Curtis’s request follows reports that a Russian oligarch paid for a lavish wedding celebration tied to Trump Jr.
- Neither Trump Jr. nor Hunter Biden has agreed to testify, and the committee has not voted to issue any subpoena.
A Senator’s Letter Names Both Presidential Families
Senator John Curtis sent a letter dated September 21, 2026, to Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin. He asked the committee to investigate “the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests”.
Curtis specifically named Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden as the two witnesses he wants subpoenaed to testify under oath.
GOP senator calls for Donald Trump Jr., Hunter Biden subpoenas after Russian oligarch paid for first son's wedding party https://t.co/bQo7oFrm6P pic.twitter.com/7NKVjFvygg
— New York Post (@nypost) September 22, 2026
The letter does not stop at naming names. Curtis wants both men questioned about “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 followed up the next day with a public statement, framing the request as anti-corruption oversight rather than a partisan attack on either family.
His press release argued the committee has a duty to examine whether presidential relatives cashed in on their fathers’ names, regardless of party. That framing matters, because it positions the ask as a principle rather than a grudge.
The Wedding Party That Sparked the Request
Reporting tied to Curtis’s letter centers on a lavish wedding after-party held on a private island, allegedly financed in part by a Russian oligarch connected to Trump Jr.
That single, vivid detail has driven most of the news coverage, giving reporters and readers a concrete image to attach to what is otherwise a broad request about financial influence and foreign access.
President Trump pushed back directly on the oligarch claim. He said he has “no idea who Umar is,” referring to the individual named in reporting, and denied that this person paid for “Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding”. That is a specific, on-the-record denial worth weighing against the original claim.
Where Hunter Biden Fits Into the Request
Curtis paired the Trump Jr. allegation with older, broader questions about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, an issue that has already drawn years of congressional attention. Hunter Biden has denied involving his father in his business dealings and testified as much in an earlier House proceeding.
A congressional oversight report from that earlier fight noted that his lawyers did not contest the legitimacy of the subpoena’s stated reasons, though he still refused to comply at the time.
That history cuts both ways. It gives Curtis a documented pattern to point to when arguing Hunter Biden should answer more questions.
It also gives critics ammunition to note that one family already faced this exact process, while the newer claim about Trump Jr. remains freshly reported and less thoroughly tested.
Why Congress Cannot Simply Demand Answers
Subpoenas targeting a president’s family are not a rubber stamp. In Trump v. Mazars, the Supreme Court ruled that congressional subpoenas touching a president’s personal information raise serious separation-of-powers concerns and must be narrowly tied to a real legislative purpose.
Any committee that moves forward here will need to show its questions serve oversight, not political theater, before a court will enforce compliance.
Utah GOP Sen. John Curtis Seeks Subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden Over Foreign Ties, Questions of Private Financial Benefit
Read now: https://t.co/D2lQBUGHRw— newslink7.com (@Newslink7com) September 22, 2026
So far, Grassley and Durbin have not voted to issue any subpoena, and neither Trump Jr. nor Hunter Biden has responded publicly to the request itself.
That leaves this story exactly where it stands today: a serious, on-the-record ask from a sitting senator, aimed at both political families equally, with the actual fight over compliance still ahead. Whether the committee acts will say a lot about whether Washington can hold its own families to one standard.
Sources:
cbsnews.com, curtis.senate.gov, deseret.com, thehill.com, politico.com, us.headtopics.com
