(AFP) – A Russian tycoon close to President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Donald Trump Jr. had reimbursed him for hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on lavish celebrations surrounding the US president’s son’s wedding. Umar Kremlev, who heads the International Boxing Association, confirmed the repayment at a news conference in Istanbul but said he saw no reason why the money needed to be returned.
“Yes, he did,” Kremlev said when asked whether Trump Jr. had reimbursed him. “He did repay the money I spent on the present.” Kremlev compared the arrangement to inviting friends to his country house and said demanding repayment afterward would be “ridiculous.”
The disclosure is the latest twist in a controversy that has prompted calls for a congressional investigation into whether foreign interests are gaining access or influence through members of President Donald Trump’s family. Investigative outlet ProPublica reported last month that Kremlev paid hundreds of thousands of dollars toward Trump Jr.’s three-day wedding celebrations with Bettina Anderson in the Bahamas, including the rental of a private island.
Trump Jr. and his wife later acknowledged Kremlev’s involvement, describing him as a friend who “very generously hosted” two nights of festivities after their wedding ceremony. The president defended the arrangement and had previously told reporters that his son had repaid the money. “It’s totally allowed,” Trump said. “That’s very common.”
Trump has not addressed why the gift — from a national of an adversarial nation that has sought to meddle in US elections — was accepted in the first place, or the relationship that prompted it. Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah has asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate and subpoena Trump Jr., arguing that presidential families should face the same scrutiny regardless of party.
“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private-island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else,” Curtis said last month. Kremlev, who has received Russia’s Order of Friendship from Putin, dismissed suggestions that the gift carried political significance. “Why can’t we be friends… We are simply friends and what unites us is love for sports,” said Kremlev, who was speaking through an interpreter.
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