Zelenskyy insulted him; House GOP to probe the leader of Ukraine trip PA

House Oversight Chairman James Comer opened an investigation into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit Sunday to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Comer claims that the trip was organized to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the presidency, and ended up using “taxpayer-funded resources.”

The Republican investigation comes as relations between Zelenskyy and former president Donald Trump appear to have soured.

On Wednesday, Trump accused Zelenskyy of insulting him – Trump said the Ukrainian president “made a nasty spread against” him – and added that he along with Russian President Vladimir Putin were “very nice.”

“There’s nothing for the Ukrainians to come back to, and it doesn’t need to happen. The buildings are down, the cities are gone. to make a deal,” Trump said of Zelenskyy while speaking at a pipe parts manufacturer in Mint Hill, North Carolina.

Zelenskyy is in the United States to attend this week’s high-level UN General Assembly in New York, where he is meeting with world leaders. He also plans to visit the White House on Thursday, where he will meet with President Joe Biden and, later, with Harris.

Trump was expected to meet with the Ukrainian President on Thursday at Trump Tower, but a Trump campaign official told NBC News Wednesday that the meeting did not happen. When asked why, a source familiar with the matter pointed to Zelenskyy’s New Yorker interview.

In an interview published Sunday by the New Yorker, Zelenskyy said that Trump’s mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance was “very radical” and the message “like that Ukraine must make sacrifices,” in ending the war with Russia.

When asked whether Ukraine would have to give up land in exchange for a ceasefire with Russia at a news conference Wednesday, Vance said “everything will be on the table.”

Comer’s letter also criticized the timing of the visit by publishing Zelenskyy’s comments about Trump’s running mate.

The ammunition factory opened by Zelenskyy is operational General Dynamics and making components for the 155 mm cannon, an essential munition for Ukraine’s war effort.

On Wednesday, the Department of Defense announced an additional $375 million in security aid to Ukraine, including more 155 mm artillery pieces that the Scranton plant specializes in manufacturing.

“I started my visit to the United States by thanking all the employees at the plant and by reaching an agreement to develop cooperation between Pennsylvania and Zaporizhzhia,” Zelenskyy wrote in X Sunday.

There, Zelenskyy also met with three Pennsylvania Democrats; Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Bob Casey and Rep. Matt Cartwright. Casey and Cartwright are up for re-election in November.

“The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant plays a critical role bolstering the forces of Ukraine, and I was honored to join President Zelenskyy to thank Pennsylvania workers for helping defend democracy. Trying to smear the visit to our Commonwealth as an insult and disgrace,” Sen. Casey said in a statement to CNBC.

Spokesmen for the governor’s office and Cartwright’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the investigation.

“In 2019, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives impeached President Donald J. Trump for abuse of power on the theory that he tried to use a foreign leader – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – to benefit from the 2020 presidential campaign, although there was no evidence. wrongdoing by President Trump,” Chairman Comer wrote in a press release Wednesday.

A 30-minute phone call between president Trump and Zelenskyy in 2019, in which the former president asked Zelenskyy to investigate the activities of rival President Joe Biden and his son Hunter, as part of the impeachment inquiry into Trump.

“The Biden-Harris administration recently flew the same foreign leader – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – on a flight funded by American taxpayers to Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, which has been described as ‘the toughest battleground for the .President Kamala Harris won,” Comer said.

Comer sought more information about the government resources used for and all internal and external communications about the trip in a letter sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Attorney General Merrick Garland and White House Counsel Edward Siskel.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also sent a strongly worded letter about his Pennsylvania trip Wednesday. Johnson immediately wrote to Zelenskyy, and asked the warlord to recall Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who helped organize the visit to Scranton.

“The tour is clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election meddling,” Johnson wrote. “This short-sighted and deliberate political move has caused the Republic to lose confidence in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to be fair and effective as a diplomat in this country.”

Comer’s investigation comes a day after nine House Republicans signed a letter sent to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz and Defense Department Inspector General Robert Storch, demanding “a full investigation into the use of US military assets and federal resources in connection with the visit.”

In the letter, Republicans said Zelenskyy may have flown to Scranton on a US Air Force plane and offered Secret Service protection.

Trump’s position on the war in Ukraine, and America’s role in it, has been a source of controversy on the campaign trail and drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans. Some Republicans have cited Trump’s ambivalence about U.S. support for Ukraine as one of the reasons he endorsed Harris.

In contrast, Biden reaffirmed his administration’s support for Ukraine on Wednesday, adding that he would announce “a series of actions to accelerate support for the Ukrainian military” on Thursday.