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Chief, Law Enforcement, U.S. Border Patrol Brian Hastings testifies before the House Committee on the Judiciary in a hearing titled “Oversight of Family Separation and U.S. Customs and Border Protection Short-Term Custody Under the Trump Administration”.

Photographer: Donna Burton
Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection | Public domain | Wikimedia Commons

Sen. Curtis Urges Trump Jr. And Hunter Biden Subpoenas In Judiciary Probe

Sen. John Curtis on Monday, September 21, 2026, formally asked Senate Judiciary Committee leaders to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden in a probe of presidential family financial ties.[1]

Curtis sent a formal letter to Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin.[1] The letter asked the committee to "launch an investigation into the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests." CBS News Curtis framed Hunter Biden as having conducted "substantial business" with foreign entities, including in China and Ukraine, while his father was in or seeking office.[1]

The letter describes Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas wedding "afterparty" as held on a private island and provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev.[1] CBS reported Trump Jr.'s wife Bettina Anderson confirmed on Instagram that Kremlev hosted some May post-wedding festivities as "an extraordinarily generous wedding gift." CBS News Curtis also linked Trump Jr.'s promotion of family cryptocurrency ventures, international real estate deals, and prediction-market ties to concerns about foreign access and expectations of favorable treatment.[1]

Curtis said the probe should establish facts, assess whether existing ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws apply, and identify reforms to prevent presidential families' private enrichment.[1] The senator's request for subpoenas was also reported by Axios.[2]

  1. CBS News
  2. Axios
Congressional Oversight Trump Administration Political Ethics and Corruption Political Ethics & Corruption
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📌 Key Facts

  • On Monday, September 21, 2026, Sen. John Curtis sent a formal letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin asking the committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden (Sen. John Curtis).
  • Curtis's letter explicitly asks the committee to "launch an investigation into the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests" (Curtis's letter).
  • Curtis frames Hunter Biden as having conducted "substantial business" with foreign entities, including in China and Ukraine, while his father was in or seeking office, as part of the justification for subpoenaing him (Hunter Biden).
  • The letter describes Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas wedding "afterparty" as held on a private island and provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, and CBS reports that Trump Jr.'s wife Bettina Anderson confirmed on Instagram that Kremlev hosted some May post-wedding festivities as "an extraordinarily generous wedding gift" (Umar Kremlev).
  • Curtis links Donald Trump Jr.'s promotion of family cryptocurrency ventures, international real estate deals, and prediction-market ties to broader concerns about foreign access and expectations of favorable treatment (Donald Trump Jr.).
  • Curtis says the probe's purpose should be to establish facts, assess whether existing ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws apply, and identify reforms needed to prevent presidential families' private enrichment (the probe's purpose).

📰 Source Timeline (2)

Follow how coverage of this story developed over time

September 22, 2026
1:24 PM
GOP senator asks Senate committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., Hunter Biden
CBS News
New information:
  • The CBS article confirms that on Monday, September 21, 2026, Sen. John Curtis sent his subpoena request in a formal letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley and Ranking Member Dick Durbin.
  • Curtis's letter explicitly asks the committee to "launch an investigation into the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interests."
  • The CBS report reproduces Curtis's framing that Hunter Biden conducted "substantial business" with foreign entities, including in China and Ukraine, while his father was in or seeking office, as part of the justification for including both men.
  • The piece details Curtis's description of Donald Trump Jr.'s Bahamas wedding "afterparty" as held on a private island and provided by Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev, who reportedly traveled to China with Vladimir Putin shortly before the gift.
  • CBS notes that Donald Trump Jr.'s wife Bettina Anderson confirmed on Instagram that Kremlev hosted some May post-wedding festivities on a private Bahamian island as "an extraordinarily generous wedding gift."
  • Curtis's letter links Trump Jr.'s promotion of family cryptocurrency ventures, international real estate deals, and prediction-market ties to broader concerns about foreign access and expectations of favorable treatment.
  • Curtis states the probe's purpose should be to establish facts, assess whether existing ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws apply, and identify needed reforms to prevent presidential families' private enrichment.