By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-09-25 17:10:52 | Updated at 2024-09-30 21:26:16
5 days ago
The Biden-Harris administration is facing a two-pronged investigation from Republicans in Congress after the Ukrainian president was flown on taxpayer-funded 'campaign' flights.
The outrage from the GOP comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on a pro-Kamala Harris campaign stop after flying on the U.S. taxpayer dime.
During the visit, the European leader made comments Republicans say were derogatory against Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance.
Zelensky reportedly called Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, Trump's running mate and a frequent critic of the U.S.'s involvement in the Ukraine-Russia war, 'too radical.'
He was photographed with Gov. Josh Shapiro, a top Harris surrogate, as he signed 155mm artillery shells that will be flown to Ukraine as it fights Russia.
This handout photograph taken by the Ukrainian Presidential press service on September 22, 2024, shows the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky arriving for his visit at Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, September 22, 2024.
The Keystone State is widely seen as a must-win bellwether in the closely-contested presidential election and essentially every route to victory winds through it.
To determine whether the taxpayer-funded trip was a campaign event, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., sent letters Wednesday to two top Cabinet officials demanding information, writing the incident could amount to election interference.
The letters, sent to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Attorney General Merrick Garland, call into question the U.S. funding involved in facilitating the trip for Zelensky.
Specifically, the memo to Austin notes how Zelensky flew on a taxpayer-funded U.S. military aircraft.
'The Committee seeks to understand the circumstances that led—and any facts that could justify—the Biden-Harris Administration to transport President Zelensky on a Department of the Air Force aircraft to Pennsylvania to introduce government officials to President Zelensky about the Russia-Ukraine war,' Comer wrote to Austin.
'Because resources from the Department of the Air Force were used in this apparent campaign event that resulted in the potential interference of a federal election, the Committee seeks information from the Department of Defense.'
The Kentucky Republican's letter to Garland, meanwhile, focused more on the Justice Department's commitment to root out election interference.
Zelensky is photographed departing a U.S. Air Force aircraft before heading to the ammunition plant where he posed with top Democrats
Here Zelensky is seen speaking to a crowd while Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., who is in a tight reelection race, stand behind him
Zelensky smiles as he signs a 155mm artillery shell which likely could be destined for the battlefields in his country where hundreds of thousands of life-altering and life-ending casualties have occurred. Shapiro (3R) and Casey (4R) can be seen in blue suits
'Because the Department of Justice (DOJ), at your direction, is highly focused on combatting foreign election interference, the Committee requests DOJ review the Biden-Harris Administration's coordination with the Ukrainian government regarding President Zelensky's itinerary while in America,' Comer wrote.
'You recently stated DOJ 'will be relentlessly aggressive in countering and disrupting attempts by Russia and Iran—as well as China or any other foreign malign actor—to interfere in our elections and undermine our democracy.'
'The Committee believes no foreign actor—whether or not deemed 'malign' by DOJ—should be permitted to interfere in American elections.'
Also mentioned in the letter are 'critical' comments made by the Ukrainian president on the trip that were reported by The New Yorker.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer sent the letters to Austin and Garland
Austin was asked about the military's role in flying Zelensky around and Garland was asked about whether the Justice Department will investigate the alleged infraction
After Zelensky called Vance 'too radical' he also reportedly said that he did not believe Trump would be able to muster up a solution to end the country's war.
Trump has frequently campaigned on his ability to broker a resolution in the conflict, and Zelensky's suggestion that the former president would be incapable of such a feat did not sit well with the GOP.
'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.'
'The Committee is investigating any coordination or communication among the Biden-Harris Administration, Pennsylvania’s Office of the Governor, and President Zelensky for use or solicitation of use of government property to politically benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign,' the letters said.
Zelensky and Shapiro shake hands. Shapiro was considered to be a top contender for Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate for president before she chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz
Comer also included a reference to another scandal Zelensky was previously embroiled in that impacted a U.S. election.
'In 2019, the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives impeached President Donald J. 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 on the part of President Trump.'
'The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power,' Comer said.
Comer gave both the Cabinet officials until October 2 to turnover materials related to Zelensky's travel.
