Sept. 25 (UPI) — House Republicans launched an investigation Wednesday into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent visit to an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania, claiming his trip with Democrats in the battleground state could be construed as election meddling.
House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., accused the Biden administration of using taxpayer funds to transport Zelensky to Scranton on Sunday to “campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
“The Biden-Harris administration recently flew the foreign leader — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — on an American-taxpayer-funded flight to Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, which has been described as the ‘trickiest battleground for Vice President Kamala Harris to win,'” Comer wrote in a letter Wednesday.
Comer has asked the White House, the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice for documents regarding government resources used to facilitate Zelensky’s travel to Pennsylvania, where the Ukraine president criticized the Trump-Vance ticket as “too radical.”
“This rhetoric coming from a foreign leader released in anticipation of a U.S. taxpayer-funded visit about the current administration’s political opponent is highly concerning,” Comer wrote, as he pointed out the hypocrisy of Zelensky’s trip.
“In 2019, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump for abuse of power under the theory that he attempted to use a foreign leader — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — to benefit his 2020 presidential campaign, despite a lack of any evidence of wrongdoing,” Comer added.
Nine other Republicans also raised concerns over the trip in a letter Tuesday, requesting a “full investigation into the use of U.S. military assets and federal resources in relation to the visit,” which they called a violation of the Hatch Act, which bans federal employees from engaging in or using government resources for political activities.
“There is concern that these resources were used for purposes unrelated to U.S. national security or bilateral diplomacy but rather to support a politically significant visit ahead of a major U.S. election,” wrote Republican Reps. Lance Gooden of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Mary Miller of Illinois, Michael Cloud of Texas, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Dan Bishop of North Carolina and Eric Burlison of Missouri.
The White House, the Department of Defense and the Justice Department have not responded to Comer’s letter or the investigation.
Democratic Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who attended Sunday’s visit with Zelensky, called the investigation a “smear” Wednesday in a post on X.
“The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant is playing a critical role bolstering Ukraine’s forces, and I was honored to join President Zelensky to thank Pennsylvania workers for helping defend democracy,” Casey wrote. “Attempts to smear his visit to our Commonwealth are an insult and a disgrace.”
Zelensky, who is in the United States for the 79th U.N. General Assembly, is lobbying his “plan for victory” over Russia. The plan includes getting Washington to lift a ban on using Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike military targets inside Russian territory, despite fears it could be construed as the West entering the conflict and triggering an escalation.
“The plan includes not only what is needed from Biden today,” Zelensky said Sunday in Pennsylvania. “There will be a new president in the United States and we need to talk to each of the candidates.”
