Curtis hasn't heard from White House since calling for investigation of Trump Jr.

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. John Curtis says he hasn't heard yet from the Trump administration about his calls for an investigation into Donald Trump Jr., but both Republicans and Democrats have reached out privately to express support.

During a Zoom interview with Utah reporters, Curtis said he's received generally positive feedback from his colleagues in the Senate, many of whom are grateful "that I said what they were thinking."

In a letter this week, Curtis called for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena both Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden as part of a probe into the business and personal dealings of relatives of presidents.

"I have nothing against Don Jr.," Curtis said Wednesday. "Actually, I think one of the hardest things in the world would be to have your dad be the president. But I think the American people deserve answers, and it should be bipartisan."

The senator's letter to the judiciary committee came just days after he criticized a wedding after-party for Trump Jr. in the Bahamas in May that was paid for by a Russian oligarch, which was first reported by ProPublica. The president did not attend the wedding, and he later said his oldest son had repaid the oligarch.

But it's not just about the wedding party. Curtis said he's also concerned about the business dealings of Trump Jr., who is involved with major prediction markets and recently founded a cryptocurrency company with his brother.

"The litany of potential conflicts — this is not a one-off," Curtis said. "This is not an accidental conflict of interest. This is deep, and it's serious."

Curtis was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2024 after serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. He's up for reelection in 2030.

How Republicans are responding

Some Republicans are hitting Curtis over his call for an investigation. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, called it a "new Russia hoax" and an "unwarranted attack" that won't move forward. He argued Trump Jr. is a "private citizen and businessman."

"This partisan distraction is NOT what the American people voted for!" Emmer wrote on X.

"I know Tom (Emmer) well, and of course served with him in the House and like him a lot," Curtis said in response. "But he's wrong. He also does not reflect the vast majority of my colleagues who have expressed their thoughts to me."

As for Trump Jr. being a "private citizen," Curtis agreed but pushed back on the notion that it would absolve him from scrutiny.

"As a father of six, I'm very sympathetic to people that pull in families into this," Curtis said. "The reality of it is that Don Jr. pulled himself into this, and just because he's the president's son doesn't mean it's hands off. And that was really his decision, not mine."

The Utah senator is one of only a handful of Senate Republicans to call out Trump Jr.'s wedding party. Several others who are also speaking out have recently lost their primary elections — Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, and John Cornyn, R-Texas — or are not running for another term — Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina.

Cornyn said he "would support" Curtis' request, while Cassidy said of the wedding party: "The appearance of it is really bad, and so I'm glad it's been repaid," according to Newsweek. Tillis encouraged Trump Jr. to explain the context, "because on its face, it looks pretty dumb."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, told the Associated Press she is "glad" Curtis "said what he said." Murkowski isn't up for reelection for another two years.

But Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, piled on in opposition to calls for an investigation, writing on X that there's "no equivalence between Donald Trump Jr., a successful private citizen, and Hunter Biden, a drug addict who was subpoenaed following a litany of well-documented evidence that he was directly selling access to his dad's administration."

"I couldn't care less who throws a private citizen a wedding after-party," Moreno added. "Subpoenas of presidential family members must pass a high bar. We can't let the Senate become a partisan tool used to harass private citizens in pursuit of political points."

Why Hunter Biden?

Curtis also lumped Hunter Biden, son of former President Joe Biden, into his call for an investigation. He cited the younger Biden's high-profile roles with foreign companies in his letter and said there is "little question" his father's prominence helped.

Hunter Biden was investigated by House Republicans in 2024 as part of a nearly yearlong impeachment investigation into then-President Biden.

In a post on X Tuesday, in response to Curtis' call for an investigation, Hunter Biden said "bring it on."

"I've already given more than seven hours of sworn testimony. More than three dozen witnesses testified across two chambers," he said. "I had no foreign business dealings while my father was president. None."

He added, "I'll sit next to Don Jr. and testify any time, any place…No need for a subpoena. Let's all do it tomorrow."

Curtis said he has been considering speaking up on perceived conflicts of interest with those close to the president for a while, but was considering the best way to address it. Sometime in the future, Curtis said he wants to "be able to say I did the right thing."

"If there's nothing to hide, then this is great," he said of the potential probe of Trump Jr. and Biden. "Anybody should welcome a clearing of facts if there's nothing to hide."

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Punchbowl News he couldn't immediately say whether the committee would subpoena Trump Jr.

"I'm going to take his request seriously and sit down with staff and see what we can do," he said.

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