Republican Senator Seeks Investigation into Whether Donald Trump Jr. is Profiting Off Ties to His Father

Senator John Curtis, a Republican from Utah, wrote the Senate Judiciary Committee September 21 asking it to investigate whether Donald Trump Jr., eldest child of President Donald Trump, has used his relationship with his father “for private financial benefit.” In the letter (here), he writes that For years, serious questions have been raised about members of presidential families using their names and proximity to the President to advance private business interests. In a nod to fairness and bipartisanship, he asks the Committee to investigate Hunter Biden as well, but the bulk of his letter recounts the ways Don Jr. has used the family name to enrich himself. From the payment of a lavish wedding afterparty by a Russian oligarch, to his promotion of family-backed cryptocurrency ventures, the pursuit of international real estate deals, several reported investments in defense contracting. “These reports raise legitimate questions about foreign access to members of a sitting president’s family and whether such relationships can create actual or perceived expectations of favorable treatment,” he writes. He then asks the Committee to “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.” The letter is remarkable for two reasons. It puts the question of Presidential relatives trading on their link to the single most powerful individual in the modern world on the agenda at a time when it is likely to engage the public (and hence lawmakers), and it was written by a Republican. It’s unlikely the Committee will act before November, but, particularly if the Republicans suffer a major defeat in November, an investigation will surely be at the top of agenda in 2027. I am not a US citizen, and such should not be concerned with what goes on in the US, but the US president’s actions affect the whole world. There is no question that the world looks to the US president as an example. Unfortunately (rather fortunately), nothing escapes the attention of the media, and how the president has allowed his family to be part of his administration is questionable. Nepotism should never be allowed. And so, the question of his family benefitting off his presidency is pertinent to determine whether the president has allowed that relationship boundaries to be blurred. GAB would welcome comments on how other nations regulate or fail to regulate efforts by kin of high level officials to trade on the official’s name. Many challenging questions. What does “trading” mean and how does one prove it? Hunter Biden’s former business partner, Devon Archer, says Hunter put his father, the then Vice President, on speakerphone or introduced him during calls with business associates around 20 times over a decade, though Archer stated the calls did not involve specific business discussions. Should such calls be banned? What if it were only one call? What if the purpose was for the VP to assure the business associate Hunter was over his drug problem? What if it were Jill Biden, Hunter’s mother and then Second Lady? What if the call was about donating to charity? Suppose the son, daughter, cousin, grandchild, or whomever simply leaves an impression with the client that the high-level official/relative will help? Is that “trading”? What if the relative doesn’t intend to trade on the name but a lower level official goes out of their way to accommodate the relative’s request. Take a situation where the relative represents a business seeking a permit. The agency assumes if it doesn’t quickly grant the permit, it will be in hot water with the relative’s high-level office holder/family member. Likewise, what if the relative is hired simply to advise on how the office holder “thinks” and relative never discusses the client’s business with the office holder? To provide what in Washington is sold as “strategic advice” about the office holder. Is that trading? Does it matter if the client publicizes that it has retained the office holder’s relative? Thanks to Senator Curtis for raising the issue of how the U.S. government should deal with family members who use their names and proximity to power holders to advance their financial interests. So along with comments on how other nations deal with the ethical questions these situations raise, GAB welcomes comments and guest posts on how to turn the concerns raised by the business dealings of Hunter Biden, Donald Trump Jr., Bill Carter, Donald Nixon, and other relatives of Presidents into workable rules of conduct. Pingback: Stopping Presidential Family Members Use of the Presidency for Private Gain: Important First Step | GAB | The Global Anticorruption Blog