A Russian oligarch closely tied to Vladimir Putin bankrolled Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding to Bettina Anderson, whose three-day weekend nuptials in the Bahamas cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Umar Kremlev — the head of the International Boxing Association, which has a controversial, long-standing financial relationship to Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom — helped funnel money into the wedding to foot the bill for a fireworks show and for one of two private islands, where a reception was held and where guests slept, according to records reviewed by ProPublica. Those payments reportedly came from an entity tied to an International Boxing Association entity in Dubai that the organization uses for financial transactions.
Approached for comment, the White House directed The Independent to Anderson’s personal Instagram post addressing ProPublica’s report. Generosity doesn’t automatically come with an agenda. And sometimes a wedding gift is simply a wedding gift,” she added.
ProPublica’s latest reporting is now drawing demands from members of Congress for urgent investigations into alleged corruption and the Trump family's relationship with a chief U.S. adversary. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. We need answers.” It’s not the first time the president’s oldest son has been accused of fostering ties with the Kremlin.
In 2016, Donald Trump Jr. had arranged a meeting at Trump Tower with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and then-campaign manager Paul Manafort amid discussions about potentially politically damaging information aboutHillary Clinton. Trump Jr. has also repeatedly criticized U.S. financial and military support for Ukraine during Russia’s assault and has publicly accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of prolonging the war. His wedding only had a guest list of roughly 50 people, including Trump Jr.’s brother Eric and brother-in-law Jared Kushner — as well as Kremlev, whose presence with a large group of other Russian figures confused other attendees, according to ProPublica.
None of them appear in any of the many photos and videos of the wedding weekend posted by the couple on social media. The top of Kremlev’s face can barely be seen in a large group photo of the wedding guests, standing a few rows behind Trump Jr. The president skipped the wedding altogether.
After telling reporters he was going to “try to make” the ceremony, Trump said it was “not good timing” because of the Iran war. The president wrote on Truth Social in May that “circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so.” In the days leading up to the wedding, Kremlev traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Putin, according to Chinese state media. One month earlier, Putin awarded Kremlev with a state honor, the Order of Friendship.
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