Trump’s son could go to jail as authorities open investigation: Widespread controversy and legal scrutiny
The legal cases against President Donald Trump in Florida, Georgia, New York and Washington D.C. in the past years will be written in the history. Since winning the presidential election last year, all of these cases were stopped by prosecutors and courts citing presidential immunity. President Trump last week celebrated a rather small but actually big victory as Florida appeals court allowed him to continue with the case against the Pulitzer Prize Board. This week, however, federal judge reinstated a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board after she sued to regain her position following her removal by President Donald Trump.
While President Donald Trump takes center stage in the media, constant legal cases seem to be part of Trump’s closest family relatives’ lives. In a recent development which has nothing to do with politics, one of Trump’s sons is under investigation abroad as authorities have opened official investigation against him. In the worst-case scenario, jail time is not excluded.
Following the release of a video on social media showing Donald Trump Jr. hunting and killing a protected species of duck in a Venice lagoon, Venetian prosecutors formally started a criminal investigation into him. Captured during a hunting trip and later posted online, the incident has sparked widespread controversy and legal scrutiny.
Emerging a few weeks ago, the video shows Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the U.S. President, firing multiple ducks, one of which has been identified as a ruddy shelduck. This particular species is protected under Italian conservation laws, making the act potentially illegal. Andrea Zanoni, a regional councilor in Northern Italy and member of the Italian Parliament, claims that the site of the hunt, Valle Pierimpie’ a Campagna Lupia, is a known conservation area where hunting these ducks is limited to residents who have specific hunting permissions.
After the video went viral, Zanoni filed a criminal complaint, which led the authorities to review and then start an official investigation. Should Trump Jr. prove guilty of the allegations, his possible penalties include fines and jail time.
Reiterating the area’s legal designation for hunting, a Trump Jr. spokesman responded to the accusations by claiming that all required hunting licenses and permits were in order. A spokesperson for Don Jr., however, insisted that the president’s son has the necessary authorization to hunt the ducks and that he would be cooperating with the investigation, CNN reported.
“Don and his group had all the proper permits and were hunting in a legally allowed area, where there were countless other hunting groups present,” Andy Surabian told CNN in a statement.
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Despite these claims, the footage in question was quickly removed from the original publication site, Field Ethos, where Trump Jr. holds a position as co-founder and publisher. But the footage reappeared on multiple Italian media outlets showing a group of hunters—including Trump Jr.—shooting at ducks as they flew overhead, with several birds falling into the lake below.
Andrea Zanoni is adamant about the need of legal action, citing the need of a hunting license unique to the area, which he says Trump Jr. didn’t have.
“You need a hunting license issued only and exclusively to residents of one of the Italian regions, a mandatory document where you can note the date, place of hunting, and quantity of animals killed divided by individual species,” Zanoni told CNN, underscoring the strict regulations governing such activities.
Beyond Trump Jr., the controversy focuses on other people shown on the video, including Oliver Martini and Leone Rossi Di Montelera. Both Martini, who runs a travel hunting business for foreigners, and Di Montelera, who shows his family managing the private hunting grounds, highlighted the controlled nature of their activities, which they claim conforms with local wildlife management and conservation guidelines.
As the investigation progresses, the Italian Ministry of Environment, led by Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, has refrained from commenting until a thorough review of all related materials is completed.
