CNN host Kaitlan Collins put Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno on the spot after he tried to dismiss questions surrounding Donald Trump Jr.’s lavish Bahamas wedding celebrations — and then brought Hunter Biden into the conversation himself.
That decision gave Collins an obvious follow-up.
The exchange came after ProPublica reported that Russian businessman Umar Kremlev, who has ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on expenses connected to Trump Jr.’s wedding weekend in the Bahamas.
Trump Jr. and his wife, Bettina Trump, have confirmed Kremlev’s involvement, saying their friend had generously hosted two nights of celebrations for them as a wedding gift. They have rejected suggestions that there was anything sinister or political about the arrangement.
But the revelation has attracted scrutiny in Washington.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, has opened an investigation and requested records concerning Trump Jr.’s relationship with Kremlev, saying the arrangement raises national-security and public-corruption questions.
So when Moreno appeared on CNN’s “The Source,” Collins asked him directly whether he was comfortable with the situation.
Moreno initially said he did not know who Kremlev was before launching into an enthusiastic defense of Trump Jr., whom he described as a friend.
“I know that Don Jr. is a great human being, an amazing American,” Moreno said.
He then argued that the controversy was not worthy of Collins’ show and suggested Americans were concerned about other issues.
But instead of leaving it there, Moreno introduced another famous presidential son into the discussion: Hunter Biden.
Moreno sharply attacked the former president’s son while contrasting him with Trump Jr.
That was when Collins turned Moreno’s comparison back on him.
“Well, I’m glad you bring up Hunter Biden,” Collins responded.
She asked whether Moreno would have questions if a Russian oligarch had paid for celebrations involving Hunter Biden.
Moreno responded by raising allegations involving Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings and Burisma.
But Collins kept returning to the standard Moreno himself had just introduced.
If Moreno believed those kinds of foreign connections were inappropriate when Hunter Biden was involved, she wanted to know why he viewed the situation involving Trump Jr. differently.
Moreno did not offer a direct explanation of the distinction.
Instead, he said he did not know the circumstances surrounding Kremlev’s payments and suggested it could simply have been a friend offering to throw Trump Jr. a party.
He then dismissed the political significance of the controversy, saying people in Ohio cared more about issues affecting their daily lives.
The exchange was striking precisely because Collins did not need to introduce the Hunter Biden comparison herself.
Moreno did it for her.
Once he established Hunter Biden as his own benchmark for judging questions about foreign money and presidential families, Collins simply asked him to apply that reasoning consistently.
And the underlying questions surrounding Trump Jr.’s wedding celebrations are not disappearing.
According to ProPublica, Kremlev covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses surrounding the Bahamas wedding weekend, including the rental of a private island.
Trump Jr. and Bettina have emphasized that Kremlev is a personal friend and that the two nights he hosted were separate from the actual wedding ceremony.
Kremlev’s press office has similarly said the relationship is a friendship and that he has not discussed politics with Trump Jr.
But congressional Democrats want more information.
Garcia has requested communications between Trump Jr. and Kremlev as well as financial records concerning wedding expenses paid by foreign nationals.
For Collins, however, the immediate question was considerably simpler.
Moreno had invoked Hunter Biden to argue that Trump Jr.’s situation should not concern Americans.
Collins wanted to know why the standard Moreno was willing to apply to one president’s son should not also apply to another.
And she kept asking when he tried to move on.
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