A first-term Republican has defected from the party and called for an investigation into the two sons of US presidents. Sen. John Curtis of Utah cited cryptocurrency companies affiliated with the incumbent president’s family. He addressed the Senate Judiciary Committee, asking for subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden.
A Republican asking questions his own party has avoided
Curtis directed his letter to Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley from Iowa and the committee’s ranking Democrat Dick Durbin from Illinois to investigate “the use of family relationships for private financial benefit, favoritism, or access by domestic and foreign entities.”
On X, Curtis made the difference between a gift and what transpired during the wedding of Trump Jr., saying, “A toaster is a wedding gift. A private island party thrown at the expense of a Putin-connected oligarch is another story altogether.” According to Curtis, the Republicans have “nearly worn out the subpoena machine” investigating the foreign dealings of Hunter Biden and shouldn’t stop now.
A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else. Republicans nearly wore out the subpoena machine investigating Hunter Biden’s foreign relationships. We should not unplug it now. ‘Trust us’ was not enough then, and it… pic.twitter.com/dcWqUO6e2X
— Senator John Curtis (@SenJohnCurtis) September 22, 2026
The senator, who was elected to the Senate for the first time and doesn’t have any election dates until 2030, stated that it would help “to establish the facts, determine if there are relevant ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws applicable, and identify what steps are needed to reform the role of the office to prevent its use for personal gain.”
Crypto promotion and prediction markets in the frame
In the case of Trump Jr., Curtis singled out several issues, among which crypto is very close. The lawyer mentioned the businessman’s active promotion of family cryptocurrency projects, work on prediction markets, foreign real estate transactions, and contracts with defense companies.
The latter issue is a subject for regulation since those platforms come under the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and according to Curtis, the deals may bring up a question of whether foreign individuals have access to the relatives of the sitting president.
The catalyst of the deal was a gift. According to Curtis, Kremlev is a Russian oligarch who had recently traveled with Vladimir Putin’s delegation to China, and he threw an after-party in the Bahamas for the Trumps’ wedding. Trump Jr.’s wife, Bettina Anderson, stated on Instagram that the couple had been provided with the celebration on a private island, and it was a very generous gift from Kremlev. Last week, ProPublica published information that the event had been “secretly financed” by an oligarch associated with Putin. The president said last week that his son had paid back Kremlev.
But the demand was not limited to the Trump side alone. Curtis demanded that Hunter Biden be issued a subpoena as well, arguing that he had substantial business dealings abroad, especially with China and Ukraine, when his father either was in office or seeking office, CBS News reported. Joe Biden had pardoned his son in December 2024, but Curtis mentioned that the son had denied involving his father in business dealings.
Durbin, who is the ranking Democrat on the committee, supported the demand. He argued that “corruption at the highest levels of our government should never be tolerated,” and highlighted that whereas Hunter Biden had already testified under oath to Congress, Trump Jr. had not yet done so. To ignore the issue, according to Durbin, would be to make the committee a part of “a cover up.”
The CLARITY backdrop and $1.4 billion in crypto income
This is happening at a crucial time for crypto regulation policy. The letter came about a week after Republican senators failed to secure enough votes from the Democrats to move forward with the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which was to provide market structure regulations in the industry. Some of the Democrats stated that their reason for opposing it was that the president “was using crypto to convert the presidency into a money-making scheme.”
There is an actual figure behind this allegation. Trump has stated that he earned $1.4 billion through digital asset investments by 2025. Prior to this, the Democrats have called for investigations into his memecoin, World Liberty Financial, owned by his family, and a $500 million deal with the Abu Dhabi royal family. The Republicans said that Trump had made concessions on ethics language prior to voting.