Senator John Curtis, a Republican representing Utah, sent a letter to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee calling for an investigation into US President Donald Trump’s and former President Joe Biden’s sons, citing the former’s involvement in the crypto industry.
In a Monday letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley and ranking member Dick Durbin, Curtis said that the body should probe “the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit, preferential treatment, or access by domestic and foreign interest.” He also asked for subpoenas for Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son.
The Utah lawmaker specifically called out Donald Trump Jr. for accepting gifts from Russian oligarch Umar Kremlev as part of his wedding, his “active promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures” and advisory roles with prediction market platforms, as the companies are under the regulatory purview of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The president said last week that his son had paid Kremlev back for what Donald Trump Jr. and his wife called a “generous wedding gift.“
Curtis also called for a similar probe into Hunter Biden for “substantial business with foreign entities” and instances in which either man’s relationship to the presidency was “invoked or understood to provide value.” President Biden issued a pardon for his son in December 2024 for crimes he “committed or may have committed or taken part in over the last decade,” and Curtis noted that Hunter had “denied involving his father in his business dealings.“
“The purpose of such an inquiry should be straightforward: establish the facts, determine whether existing ethics, disclosure, or anti-corruption laws apply, and identify reforms necessary to prevent the presidency from becoming a vehicle for private enrichment by those closest to it,” said Curtis.
Source: Senator John Curtis
The call for an investigation into the Trump family’s ties to the crypto industry is nothing new for the current session of Congress, but it has largely come from House and Senate Democrats. Lawmakers have asked authorities to probe potential conflicts of interest surrounding Trump’s memecoin, his family’s World Liberty Financial business and a $500 million deal tied to Abu Dhabi’s royal family.
Curtis is serving his first term in the Senate and will not be up for reelection until 2030.
CLARITY still in limbo in US Senate as midterm elections approach
The call for an investigation into Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden came a week after Senate Republicans failed to secure enough support from Democrats to pass the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a bill expected to establish market structure rules for the crypto industry.Â
One of the sticking points for not supporting the bill, according to some Democrats, was Trump “using crypto to turn the presidency into a profit generating machine.” The president disclosed that he had earned $1.4 billion from ventures tied to digital assets in 2025.
Republicans said the president had agreed to stronger ethics provisions in the bill affecting his crypto investments before the vote, but many Democrats argued that the measures did not go far enough to prevent corruption.
Magazine: Big Questions: Does Satoshi actually own 1.1 million Bitcoin?
