Christopher Murphy

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Colleagues, the story broke today that the Trump family has confirmed that a Russian oligarch, a close ally of Vladimir Putin-- a man whose fortune was gifted to him by Putin--paid for the private island wedding of the President of the United States' son. I am here on the floor because I am scared to death that this is all going to start just feeling normal. Let me say it again. A Russian oligarch, a close ally of our enemy Vladimir Putin, a man whose fortune was gifted to him by Vladimir Putin, paid for--secretly--the private island wedding of the President of the United States' son. The President's son Donald Trump, Jr., tried to hide this fact. He posted pictures of his wedding celebration online. There was a public conversation about whether the President was going to attend or not. But the President's son made no mention that the whole thing, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, a private island, was bankrolled by the Russians. In fact, the only face of the 50 guests that is hidden in the group photo that you can look at right now online, the only person's face that is hidden, is the oligarch. But he is there because he secretly paid for the celebration. The Russians paid for the private island. The Russians paid for the fireworks show. The President's son even put this oligarch in charge of planning the logistics. This was a Russian party, organized and paid for by someone in Vladimir Putin's inner circle. This has never happened before in the history of the United States of America. Never before has a foreign enemy of the United States paid for the family wedding of the President. Why? Because it is naked corruption, in plain view. It is as close to treason as you get, accepting lavish gifts, millions of dollars in gifts perhaps, from the enemy of this Nation. Let us spend a minute on this oligarch. We just learned this today, so forgive me if we have scant details. I think we are going to find out a lot more about this guy in the coming days and weeks. But his name is Umar Kremlev. He is a convicted criminal. He runs a boxing company that is funded by Putin. More specifically, by Gazprom, Putin's state-run gas company. He is not just some ordinary oligarch. He is one of Putin's favorites. In addition to running this boxing association, he runs the Russian lottery. He has a monopoly on Russian sports betting. Shortly before financing and attending the Trump wedding, Kremlev and Putin were together in China. Putin brought him on a really important state visit to China. Putin has given Kremlev the highest Kremlin honor, The Order of Friendship. The Ukrainian government has sanctioned Kremlev because he is part of Putin's inner circle. All of Kremlev's money is Putin's money. He operates as an arm of Putin, as do all the Putin-made oligarchs. Before today's disclosure of his secret financing of the Trump wedding, there was no record of Donald Trump, Jr., and Kremlev being great best buddies because they aren't. It appears that they just recently met. And shortly after meeting, this close ally of Vladimir Putin offered to pay for Donald Trump, Jr.'s wedding. Here's what Eric Trump said today, when a reporter asks his office about Umar Kremlev, this close friend of Donald Trump, Jr.'s. This is Eric Trump, Donald Trump, Jr.'s brother, his business partner, has never heard the name of the close associate, the close friend of Donald Trump, Jr.'s who paid for his entire wedding. Why? Because they are not friends. This is a business between the Trump family and the Russian Government. This all fits two patterns. The first is the Trump family's reliance on Russian support for their business empire. Donald Trump, Jr., said this, prior to when his father became President. He is talking about his family's business. More recently, those who have looked at the individuals who are buying Trump's cryptocurrency have noted that there is evidence that the Trump family's cryptocurrency is backed perhaps heavily by Russian buyers. But the second and more significant pattern is this: Trump's sons, particularly Donald Junior, just brazenly profit off of their access to the White House. Donald Junior, he just basically stuffs money into his pockets from anybody who wants a favor from his father, and he just gobbles up government contracts as fast as he can. Don Junior's net worth was $50 million before his father's second term. In the first year that Trump was President, in his second term, Don Junior's net worth didn't double; it didn't triple; it didn't quadruple; it grew by six times in one year--$50 million. A year later, $300 million. At least 13 companies tied to the Trump brothers have captured $1.8 billion in long-term Federal contracts and commitments and $103 million in direct cash from the Trump administration. Five of those companies got their first government contracts ever after the Trump sons invested. That is corruption. It doesn't matter whether this is a Republican administration or a Democratic administration. Now, you could be offended at all of that, but you might say: Well, this isn't that. This isn't Trump Junior taking money from the taxpayers. This is just his taking money from the Russians. Isn't that better than his taking money from taxpayers? Of course, it isn't because Putin doesn't pay for a wedding just to be nice. This is an arrangement in plain sight. Donald Trump has done a 180-degree turn in U.S. policy on the Russia- Ukraine war. He has cut off funding from Ukraine. Even after we appropriate money, he refuses to spend it, which is illegal. As recently as this weekend, he said publicly that it is Ukraine's fault that the war continues, not Russia's. In addition, Trump has suspended sanctions on the export of Russian oil and gas, which, by the way, specifically helps Gazprom, the company that funds Kremlev. Trump has become one of Putin's most important allies. And so, like everything else in Trump's corrupt world in his second term, it just becomes this mutually beneficial deal. Trump withholds support for Ukraine and pads the pocket of the Russian Government with sanctions relief, and the Russians funnel money to the family. Doesn't everybody see this? Shouldn't everyone here be outraged today that the President of the United States' son just had his wedding--his multimillion-dollar wedding--paid for by the Russians, and he admits it? I know that there are a lot of Republicans in the Senate who are aghast at what Trump has done to abandon Ukraine, and I know there are a lot of Republicans here who are furious at this spiraling corruption. I don't know that there is a single Member of this body, Republican or Democrat, who would go on TV tonight and defend the Russian Government's paying for the Trump family's private island wedding. But at some point, there just has to be a bottom that the U.S. Senate unanimously recognizes. Does any Republican here think that you would say nothing if Hunter Biden's wedding or Malia Obama's graduation party were financed by Iranian allies of the Ayatollah? You guys would shut this place down if that were to happen. And, of course, you can't even imagine that happening under a different administration because, despite all the histrionics over the ``Biden Crime Family,'' never before in the history of this country have we had a White House where the financing of a family wedding by a foreign adversary would pass as a minor scandal that barely makes the front pages. Just because the corruption happens so routinely that, to some, it feels normal doesn't mean that it is. If we don't, on a bipartisan basis here in the Senate, draw a line in the sand soon, it will be the end of our Republic. It just will be. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.