Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) pressed for proof on Sunday that Donald Trump Jr. paid back a Russian oligarch who funded his wedding festivities.
Speaking on CBS News’s Face the Nation, Cassidy was asked about the revelation that Umar Kremlev, president of the International Boxing Association and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, had given the president’s son hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund his wedding celebration. After President Donald Trump said his son paid it back, Cassidy said that “does make a difference.”
“Anytime someone gives a $250,000 gift, and they have strong ties to the Kremlin, that’s wrong. You, with that proximity to power, being the president’s son, you’ve got to give faith to the American people that Washington is not a swamp. And even though in your mind it might be a gift, the appearance of it is really bad,” he explained.
“And so I’m glad it’s been repaid. Would be nice to have that kind of verified, and know it shouldn’t have been done in the first place,” Cassidy added.
The gift was reported last week by ProPublica, which included renting out a private island for the reception and guest lodgings. When asked about the matter, Trump defended it but also said his son paid Kremlev back.
“It’s totally allowed, and a lot of people have parties, and it’s totally allowed. But as I understand it, he paid him back,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday afternoon. “He didn’t want to have that, so I hear he paid him back.”
TRUMP SAYS HIS SON REIMBURSED RUSSIAN OLIGARCH WHO PAID FOR WEDDING FESTIVITIES
“I guess a friend of his gave him a wedding party. That’s very common. I’ve heard of many people giving wedding parties,” he added.
Cassidy was notably tame in his analysis despite his largely negative relationship with the Trump family. He lost his primary to a Trump-backed Republican after being the target of Trump’s ire for years, as he was one of the few Republican senators to vote to convict in his second impeachment.