Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA, September 22, 2024.
Presidential Press Service of Ukraine | Reuters
House Speaker James Comer is opening an investigation into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Sunday visit to a munitions factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Comer claims the trip was organized for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign for the presidency and was made using “taxpayer-funded resources.”
The Republican investigation comes as the relationship between Zelenskiy and former President Donald Trump appears to be deteriorating.
On Wednesday, Trump accused Zelensky of insulting him — Trump said the Ukrainian president “makes nasty little remarks about him” — and added that he got along “very well” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“There is nothing for the Ukrainian people to come back to and it didn’t need to happen. These buildings are gone, these cities are gone. They are gone and we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal,” said Trump on Zelensky speaking at a plumbing parts manufacturer in Mint Hill, North Carolina.
Zelensky is in the United States to participate in the UN General Assembly’s high-level week 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 in the day with Harris.
Trump was expected to meet with the Ukrainian president on Thursday at Trump Tower, but a Trump campaign official said NBC News Wednesday that the meeting was not taking place. When asked why, a source familiar with the matter pointed to Zelenskyy’s New Yorker interview.
In an interview published on Sunday by New YorkerZelensky said Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, was “too radical” and his message “seems to be that Ukraine has to make a sacrifice” to end the war with Russia.
Asked whether Ukraine should cede territory in exchange for a ceasefire with Russia at a press conference on Wednesday, Vance said “everything will be on the table.”
Comer’s letter also criticized the timing of the visit with the publication of Zelenskyy’s comments about Trump’s running mate.
The munitions factory that Zelensky visited has been operating since General Dynamics and makes components for 155 mm artillery shells, a critical piece of ammunition for Ukraine’s combat efforts. The United States had shipped more than 3 million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine since February 2022, according to Pentagon Fact Sheet from July 2024
On Wednesday, the Defense Department announced $375 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine, including more of the 155 mm artillery shells that the Scranton plant specializes in making.
“I began my visit to the United States by expressing my gratitude to all the factory workers and concluding agreements on expanding cooperation between our Pennsylvania and Zaporizhia,” Zelensky wrote on Sunday X.
There, Zelenskyy also met with three Pennsylvania Democrats. Governor Josh Shapiro, Senator Bob Casey and Congressman Matt Cartwright. Both Casey and Cartwright are running for re-election in November.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the ‘Future Summit’ in the General Assembly Hall at the United Nations headquarters in New York, USA, September 23, 2024.
Caitlin Ochs | Reuters
“The Scranton Army Ammunition Plant plays a critical role in strengthening Ukraine’s forces, and I was honored to join President Zelenskyy in thanking Pennsylvania workers for helping defend democracy. Attempts to discredit his visit to our Commonwealth are an insult and shame,” Gen. Casey said in a statement to CNBC.
Representatives for the governor’s office and Cartwright’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request 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 his 2020 presidential campaign, despite the lack of any evidence of wrongdoing by President Trump,” wrote President Comer in a press release on Wednesday.
A 30-minute phone call between then-President Trump and Zelensky in 2019, in which the former president asked Zelensky to investigate the activities of then-President Joe Biden’s opponent and his son Hunter, was part of the Trump impeachment inquiry.
“The Biden-Harris administration recently flew the same foreign leader—Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky—on a US taxpayer-funded flight to Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 presidential election that has been described as the ‘most difficult battlefield for the Vice President”. President Kamala Harris to win,” Comer continued.
Comer sought more information about the government resources used and all internal and external communications about the trip in letters sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Attorney General Merrick Garland and White House counsel Edward Siskel.
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson also sent a stern letter about the trip to Pennsylvania on Wednesday. Johnson wrote directly to Zelensky and asked the wartime leader to recall Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, who helped organize the Scranton visit.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) walks to his office in the US Capitol on September 17, 2024 in Washington, DC.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images
“The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clear election interference,” Johnson wrote. “This short-sighted and deliberately political move has caused Republicans to lose confidence in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve 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 Storrs, demanding “a full investigation into the use of US military assets and federal resources in connection with the visit.”
In the letter, Republicans argue that Zelensky may have flown to Scranton on a US Air Force jet and provided 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 both Democrats and some Republicans. Several Republicans cited Trump’s ambivalence about U.S. support for Ukraine as one of the reasons they backed Harris over him.
Instead, Biden reiterated his administration’s support for Ukraine on Wednesday, adding that he would announce additional “series of actions to accelerate support to Ukraine’s military” on Thursday.
