A Republican senator is calling for President Donald Trump's eldest son to be subpoenaed following reports, first reported by ProPublica, that a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin helped pay for celebrations surrounding Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding.
Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, sent a letter Tuesday morning to the Republican Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee urging them to open an investigation into both Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, arguing that both parties should be held to the same standard.
"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 wrote, adding that Congressional oversight should not "begin and end when control of the White House changes hands."
RELATED STORY | DOJ announces criminal charges against sanctioned Russian oligarchs
Curtis urged the committee to subpoena both men to testify about their past business dealings, their relationships with foreign individuals and entities, gifts and other benefits they have received, and instances in which their relationship to the president was invoked or understood to provide value.
The letter follows the ProPublica report that a Russian oligarch threw a party for Trump Jr. and his now-wife, Bettina Trump, on a private island. The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing, saying the event was pre-planned and only happened to coincide with the wedding.
Curtis is a member of the majority but does not sit on the Judiciary Committee, leaving any action to the panel's leadership. An investigation would likely need to be opened by the Judiciary Committee’s Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
A spokesperson for the Judiciary Committee, speaking on background, said the panel has received Curtis' letter but told Scripps News that a hearing would effectively not be possible before the end of the 119th Congress because of the Senate’s limited schedule. The spokesperson added that investigative hearings typically require months, and sometimes years, of background work and investigations before they can be scheduled.
The committee's top Democrat, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who is retiring in several months, signaled support in a statement sent Thursday afternoon.
"Senator Curtis 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 said, adding that the committee should not ignore the matter and he would join the Utah Republican’s call for an investigation.
RELATED STORY | House approves sweeping Russia sanctions bill, sending it to Trump
The push is notable both because Curtis is not up for re-election until 2030 and because of its timing ahead of the midterm elections. Nonpartisan election handicappers have shown Democrats have improving odds of retaking the Senate — and with it, subpoena authority and the power to compel testimony under threat of contempt of Congress.