The US House of Representatives Oversight Committee has launched an investigation into President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s flight to Pennsylvania to visit an ammunition plant “using US taxpayer money”. This was reported by James Comer on the Committee’s website, Komersant ukrainskyi
reports.
The congressman called the Ukrainian president’s trip “Kamala Harris’s election campaign” in a key state for her. Comer is demanding documents from the White House, the Department of Defence and the Department of Justice “on the misuse of government resources by the Biden-Harris administration, which allowed Zelensky to interfere in the 2024 presidential election”.
It is noted that the Committee should determine “whether the Biden-Harris administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign, and, if so, whether this is a clear abuse of power.”
As a reminder, on Wednesday, US House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Zelenskyy to immediately dismiss Ukraine’s Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova over alleged interference in the US election.
Voice of America’s Pentagon correspondent Ostap Yarysh said that Republicans were offended that the visit to the plant where weapons are manufactured for Ukraine was attended only by representatives of the Democratic Party and not a single Republican was invited.
“The day before, another group of Republicans in Congress sent a similar letter to the Justice and Defence Ministries, demanding an investigation into whether federal resources were used for Zelenskyy’s trip and whether it was a violation of the law. Other lawmakers also made critical statements,” Yarysh wrote on his Facebook page.
According to him, all this is fuelled by Donald Trump’s statements. Since Monday, at every rally, he has not spared any criticism of Zelenskyy and says that he allegedly wants the Democrats to win.
“From the last one: “The president of Ukraine is in our country, and he is making little shitty slanders against your beloved president, me… Buildings are destroyed, cities have disappeared. They are gone, and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal – Zelensky.” The AP reports that the expected meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy, where he was supposed to present his victory plan, will not take place,” he said.
According to him, Republicans were furious that Zelenskyy’s visit to the Pennsylvania plant was joined by state governor Josh Shapiro, and Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Matt Cartwright also appeared there.
“All three are Democrats. Josh Shapiro is a close associate of Kamala Harris and an active player in her campaign, she considered him as her potential vice-presidential candidate. Pennsylvania is one of the key battleground states. In addition, there is a large Ukrainian and Polish community there, for whom the topic of Ukraine in the election is important. Taking all of this into account, Republicans perceived Zelenskyy’s trip to Pennsylvania as a direct or indirect attempt to add points to Kamala Harris. That’s where the questions about the use of federal funds and how Zelenskyy got to the plant came from,” Yarysh said.
According to him, the Republican Party was also dissatisfied with Zelenskyy’s interview with The New Yorker on the eve of his visit to the United States, in which he criticised J.D. Vance’s statements on Ukraine and called the vice presidential candidate “too radical”.
Zelenskyy said that he did not take Vance’s words about territorial concessions seriously, as this would lead to a global conflict. Some Republicans saw parallels in these comments with statements made by Kamala Harris’ campaign.
However, in the same interview, Zelenskyy mentions his positive communication with Donald Trump and emphasises: “Ukraine has demonstrated the wisdom of not getting involved in American domestic politics. We have always tried to avoid influencing the choice of the American people – it would be simply wrong.”
Yarysh noted that Oksana Markarova, like any ambassador, also consistently focuses on building bipartisan cooperation with both Republicans and Democrats.
“For example, in July, Zelenskyy visited Utah, where he met with Republican Governor Spencer Cox and GOP lawmakers, among others. Nevertheless, the situation is as follows. So far, neither the embassy nor the Ukrainian side has commented on this story. Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington will take place – and despite everything, he has bipartisan meetings scheduled in the US Congress… Meanwhile, there are 40 days left before the election. And something tells me that it will not get any calmer here,” the journalist-observer believes.
