Durbin says he will support Curtis’s request for a Senate Judiciary inquiry
Dick DurbinU.S. senator from Illinois and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee
Sen. Dick Durbin said he would support Sen. John Curtis’s request that the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate and subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden. Durbin said ignoring the matter could risk making the committee complicit in a cover-up.
“For the Committee to ignore this matter is to run the risk of being complicit in a coverup. I will join in supporting Senator Curtis’ request.”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should the Senate Judiciary Committee Subpoena Donald Trump Jr. Over His Kremlev-Funded Wedding Celebration?
Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association and a Putin ally sanctioned by Ukraine, helped fund a private-island celebration for Donald Trump Jr. and Bettina Trump's May 2026 wedding, including a fireworks show, ProPublica reported in September 2026. Bettina Trump acknowledged the arrangement on Instagram, calling Kremlev a "dear friend." The same day, President Trump told NBC News he had "no idea who Umar is, never heard of him," and called it "not a big deal." Four days later, in the Oval Office, Trump instead defended the arrangement as "totally allowed" and said he understood Kremlev had been repaid. On September 21, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) wrote the Senate Judiciary Committee asking it to subpoena both Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden, arguing the episode and Hunter Biden's past foreign business dealings both raise questions about "the use of presidential family relationships for private financial benefit." The Judiciary Committee had not committed to acting as of this writing.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
Associated Press reporting published by PBS NewsHour attributes this statement to Sen. Dick Durbin. It is used to record Durbin’s position, not to establish the underlying allegations about Donald Trump Jr. or Umar Kremlev.
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About this source
The Hill independently reports Sen. Dick Durbin’s response to Sen. John Curtis’s requested Judiciary Committee inquiry. It is used to attribute Durbin’s position, not to establish the underlying allegations about Donald Trump Jr. or Umar Kremlev.
Before the quotation
Sen. John Curtis had asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate the use of presidential-family relationships for private financial benefit and to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden.
After the quotation
A committee spokesperson said the panel had received Curtis’s letter but did not commit to an investigation. The reporting did not identify a public committee decision on the request.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Durbin supports Curtis’s request for an inquiry and warns against inaction. In the dispute over whether the committee should issue a subpoena, that is a condemnation of declining to investigate.
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More from this case
Read the full caseTrump Jr.'s spokesperson calls the Kremlev tie a personal friendship
“Don has made clear that he has a personal friendship, not a business relationship, with Umar. Their friendship is largely based on their shared love for hunting, fishing and the outdoors. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that they went hunting together earlier this year”Read statement
Emmer calls the proposed Trump Jr. inquiry a partisan distraction
“This partisan distraction is NOT what the American people voted for!”Read statement
Jim Banks opposes a Senate inquiry into Trump Jr. over the wedding celebration
“Don Jr. is a businessman, not an administration official. There is no evidence he sold access to the presidency. That is the difference between him and Hunter Biden and it is not a small one. The Senate should investigate actual crimes, not manufacture fake ones.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Durbin says he will support Curtis’s request for a Senate Judiciary inquiry". First published: 2026-09-23. Last updated: 2026-09-23. https://disputeindex.com/events/1537-sen-dick-durbin-said-he-would-support-sen