Hunter Biden weighs in as Republican demands Trump Jr wedding investigation
A top Republican senator has demanded an investigation into a wedding gift worth hundreds of thousands of dollars made by a Russian oligarch to Donald Trump’s son.
Umar Kremlev rented a private island as part of a three-day wedding celebration between Donald Trump Jr and his wife Bettina.
Donald Trump Jr. and his wife Bettina Anderson were married in the Bahamas in May. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson
He also paid for a fireworks show for the couple at an estimated cost of almost $100,000.
Now Utah Senator John Curtis has demanded an investigation into the gift.
"A toaster is a wedding gift," Curtis said.
"A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else."
Curtis pointed out that Kremlev had travelled with Vladimir Putin as part of a delegation to China shortly before the wedding.
Curtis invoked the Senate’s previous investigations into Joe Biden’s son when calling for the investigation.
“Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now,” Curtis said.
"'Trust us’ was not enough then, and it is not enough now."
President Donald Trump speaks with Bettina Trump, wife of Donald Trump Jr. AP
Curtis found a surprisingly willing backer in Hunter Biden himself.
"I say bring it on," Biden said of a Senate inquiry.
"I've already given more than seven hours of sworn testimony. More than three dozen witnesses testified across two chambers.
"I had no foreign business dealings while my father was president. None. I painted paintings, and I still do.
“I’ll sit next to Don Jr and testify any time, any place.”
Bettina Trump addressed Kremlev's gift in an Instagram post made last week.
"It was an extraordinarily generous wedding gift from a friend, and something for which we were and remain incredibly grateful," she wrote.
"It’s unfortunate that something so personal and happy can be recast as something political or sinister simply because of who someone is or where they come from.
"Friendship doesn’t require a political motive. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift."
The couple wed in May in the Bahamas in a lavish event with about 50 guests.
But the president himself did not attend, flagging in the days beforehand that he might be too busy.
The president was scheduled to spend the weekend at one of his golf clubs in New Jersey instead, but cancelled it to be in Washington instead.
Last week, Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia described the Trumps as the “most corrupt First Family in American history”.
"Why is a Russian oligarch and friend of Vladimir Putin financially supporting the President's son?" Garcia said.
"What does Umar Kremlev expect in return for funding this three-day wedding in the Bahamas?"
Kremlev is a major figure in world boxing and a former president of the IBA.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, with oligarch and world boxing official Umar Kremlev in Moscow during September 2022. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
In 2024, he led a charge to disqualify Algerian boxer Imane Khelif based on unsubstantiated rumours about her gender.
Kremlev is also heavily invested in Russian gambling businesses and car dealerships.
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