WASHINGTON — House Republicans launched an investigation Wednesday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to battleground Pennsylvania this week — describing it as an apparent campaign stop to benefit Vice President Kamala Harris.
Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) demanded communications about Zelensky’s visit to a Scranton ammunition factory with Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, a key supporter of the Democratic presidential nominee.
Comer likened Zelensky’s Sunday trip — during which the Ukrainian leader was flown on an Air Force C-17 cargo jet — to former President Donald Trump’s pressure on Zelensky to investigate alleged corruption by President Biden’s family, for which Trump was impeached in 2019.
“The Biden-Harris Administration recently flew the same 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 his demand for documents.
“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.”
The Scranton Times-Tribune reported that journalists were not allowed to accompany Zelensky as he toured the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, which produces 155mm artillery shells for howitzer systems used by Ukraine — but images of the visit were distributed to the media along with Army press release quotes.
The Census Bureau estimates that Pennsylvania has the country’s second-highest population of Ukrainian-Americans, at nearly 100,000.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Off/UPI/Shutterstock
Trump lost Pennsylvania by 80,555 votes in 2020.
“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.
“On September 22, 2024, The New Yorker published an interview with President Zelensky, in which he made multiple critical comments about the Trump-Vance ticket. President Zelensky said that President Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, is ‘too radical.’ He further stated his belief that President Trump and his administration would not be able stop the war, despite this being one of President Trump’s main campaign platforms (and the peace in the region under the entirety of the former Trump Administration).”
The Republican committee chairman wrote that “[t]his rhetoric coming from a foreign leader released in anticipation of a U.S. [sic]-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.”
Comer set an Oct. 2 deadline for Attorney General Merrick Garland, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and White House counsel Ed Siskel to hand over relevant documents.
The Harris campaign and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
