President Donald Trump has hung his eldest son out to dry amid revelations that a sanctioned Russian oligarch bankrolled part of Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas wedding weekend.
Trump washed his hands of the scandal in a statement to the Daily Beast, saying he has no idea who the oligarch in question—43-year-old Umar Kremlev—is. He also noted that he skipped the May wedding between Donald Trump Jr. and Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson.
“I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding [sic],” a statement emailed by the White House’s press office said. “It was an ‘after-party’ given in their honor. Not a big deal! I was not present at the party.”
ProPublica revealed Monday that Kremlev, the head of the International Boxing Association, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to rent a private island in the Bahamas for a post-wedding celebration where the younger Trump and Anderson shared their first dance. He also reportedly paid for a fireworks show.
Kremlev attended the party with other Russians—a posse that left other guests “puzzled” at what was otherwise an intimate event of close family and friends, according to ProPublica.
Don Jr., 48, and his wife, 39, have not denied that Kremlev paid for the celebration, but, like Trump, have suggested that it is no big deal, insisting Kremlev did not pay for the wedding itself.
A spokesperson for Don Jr. told ProPublica that Don Jr. and Kremlev are friends who connected through hunting.”
In its own statement to ProPublica, Kremlev’s press office said that “Mr. Kremlev and Mr. Trump Jr. have a friendly relationship” and first met “a couple of years ago.”
Kremlev did not attend the small wedding ceremony, but he was part of a larger guest list of around 50 people—including Don Jr.’s brother-in-law Jared Kushner, who is supposedly brokering a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine—who traveled to the Bahamas.
House Democrats say they will probe Kremlev’s involvement in the wedding weekend.
“The secretive and exorbitant gifts you have received as the son of a sitting U.S. President from a member of Putin’s inner circle raises serious national security and public corruption concerns,” Rep. Robert Garcia of California wrote in a letter to Don Jr.
Referring to 1789 Capital, where Don Jr. is a partner, the letter added: “A Russian oligarch reportedly financing parts of a lavish wedding for the owner of multiple firms holding Department of Defense contracts is all the more disturbing.”
Garcia also asked Don Jr. to maintain records of his communications and interactions with Kremlev. His request for information from Don Jr. is voluntary for now, but if Democrats retake the House as expected in the midterms, they will regain subpoena power to compel witness testimony and gather documentary evidence come January.
Even Melania Trump has sought to distance herself from her stepson on the matter.
“Mrs. Trump does not, and has never had, a relationship with Mr. Kremlev,” a spokesperson said in a Tuesday statement. “Mrs. Trump played no role whatsoever in organizing the wedding event and was not privy to any aspect of its financial planning.”
The first lady’s statement made no defense of Don Jr. Like the president, she and Barron Trump also skipped Don Jr.’s wedding festivities in May.
