GOP demands investigation into Zelensky visit

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky just stopped by an ammunition factory in Scranton, Pennsylvania — which CNN points out is President Joe Biden’s hometown.

Now, a group of House Republicans is demanding answers about what taxpayer dollars and US resources were used in what they allege was essentially a campaign event for Democrats.

The Hill reports that this past Sunday, Zelensky “was flown to Pennsylvania in an Air Force C-17 plane.” He was also protected by the US Secret Service. Once in PA, the Ukrainian leader was joined by Democratic Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, whom many thought the Kamala Harris campaign would peg for vice president, Democratic senator Bob Casey, who is running for re-election against Republican candidate Dave McCormick, and Democratic congressman Matt Cartwright, who is also running for reelection. Zelensky toured the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, which makes 155mm artillery shells; though, Forbes noted this very week, Ukraine is now able to produce these weapons of war themselves.

Zelensky hasn’t shied away from weighing in on America’s politics. In an interview with the New Yorker published on Sunday, he said J.D. Vance is “too radical,” that the vice-presidential candidate’s plan for the Ukrainian war is for Ukraine “to give up our territories,” and that Vance’s message “seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice.

“The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine’s expense is unacceptable,” Zelenksy went on. “But I do not consider this concept of [Vance] a plan, in any formal sense. This would be an awful idea, if a person were actually going to carry it out, to make Ukraine shoulder the costs of stopping the war by giving up its territories.”

Republican congressman Lance Gooden is leading the investigation into Zelensky’s visit. A letter sent to the Departments of Justice and Defense and signed by nine GOP House members reads, in part:

President Zelensky … was accompanied exclusively by Democrats … forty-two days before the election in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania. Zelensky’s visit and his comments criticizing the Trump-Vance ticket as “too radical,” as well as arguing that under Vance, “America is headed for global conflict,” smack of a Kamala Campaign stump speech. These actions have raised serious concerns among observers that the visit may have been politically motivated, potentially violating US laws such as the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while on duty or using government resources for such activities.

Zelensky is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday to present his country’s “victory plan” in its war against Russia.

-Teresa Mull

On our radar

FILIBUSTER FOLLY Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin knocked Vice President Kamala Harris for her plan to end the Senate filibuster in order to codify Roe v. Wade as federal law. “Shame on her,” Manchin said, affirming that he would not vote for Harris because of her opposition to the filibuster. 

MARYLAND, MY MARYLAND A super PAC backing Larry Hogan is dumping nearly $20 million into ads for the former Republican governor against his opponent, Prince George’s County commissioner Angela Alsobrooks, who was just found to have improperly claimed tax breaks on several properties. 

DEBATE DOPPLEGANGERS As the vice-presidential nominees prepare for Tuesday’s debate, Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg is playing Senator J.D. Vance in Governor Tim Walz’s debate preparations, while House Republican whip Tom Emmer plays Walz for Vance’s prep. 

Kamala grants another friendly interview

This evening, Vice President Kamala Harris will give her second major sit-down media interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee on MSNBC. The pre-taped interview was done by anchor Stephanie Ruhle.

In case you’re wondering if this sit-down will be less slobbery than the one with CNN’s Dana Bash, Ruhle notably hand-waved the idea that Harris needed to provide more access to the press during a recent appearance on Bill Maher’s late night program.

“Kamala Harris isn’t running for perfect. She’s running against Trump,” Ruhle said when New York Times columnist Bret Stephens challenged Harris to answer tough questions. “We have two choices. And so there are some things you might not know her answer to. And in 2024, unlike 2016, for a lot of the American people, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is and the kind of threat he is to democracy.” 

Stephens countered it’s not “a lot” to ask Harris to clarify her policy positions for voters, to which Ruhle scoffed, “I would just say to that, when you move to Nirvana, give me your real estate broker’s number and I’ll be your next-door neighbor.” 

The interview also comes as Harris is set to unveil an eighty-page economic plan to supplement her “opportunity economy” proposals, which include price controls on groceries and down payment assistance for first-time home buyers. 

–Amber Duke

Senate pans Secret Service failures 

A bipartisan Senate report released Wednesday blasted the US Secret Service for its failures in protecting former president Donald Trump from an attempted assassin at his July rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The report notes that the lapses in security were “foreseeable” and “preventable” and that many of the problems remain “unaddressed” by the agency. 

Among other issues, the Secret Service failed to set up a visual barrier around the rally location that would’ve prevented Thomas Matthew Crooks from getting a line of sight to Trump, did not make attempts to secure the building Crooks set up on top of with his rifle and had a total communication breakdown from the time Crooks was first spotted on the roof to when he shot at the president. Homeland Security Committee chairman Gary Peters, a Democrat, also noted that they did not receive a clear answer as to who from the Secret Service was meant to be in charge that day. 

–Cockburn

Ukraine impeachment bro skips debate 

While all eyes have been on potential future presidential debates, one bellwether House district has seen a Democratic Party star’s refusal to debate transform a race in the final stretch of the 2024 election.

Eugene Vindman, a candidate for Virginia’s open 7th district, made his name by appearing on liberal TV outlets after his twin brother Alexander Vindman blew a whistle on a phone call between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky. But he has steadfastly refused to debate his Republican opponent, Green Beret Derrick Anderson.

This week, local news flamed Vindman for failing to appear. Virginia’s ABC 7 noted on-air during the non-debate debate that, “Democratic candidate Eugene Vindman declined to participate this evening despite a month of working to find a date that worked for both campaigns. We provided multiple offers for him to change his mind, but so far no response.”

Vindman has appeared at candidate forums during the general election — where he was roundly mocked for showing up with another Democratic nominee for Congress in tow, and during which he used a massive folder filled with papers to make his way through the questions.

Anderson, for his part, has had a blast trolling Vindman for failing to show up. He posed by Vindman’s empty seat after the debate, and Republicans have been posting photos of Vindman with a massive chicken behind him. In recent weeks, Vindman has faced scrutiny for allegedly embellishing his military record and for his sister-in-law downplaying the failed assassination attempt on Trump, none of which local media was able to press him on due to his absence from the debate.

He was additionally called a “carpet-bagger” by conservative opponents after he called for expanding the Virginia Railway Express to Fredericksburg (the VRE has serviced Fredericksburg since 1992, and the station recently underwent a $14.4 million renovation).

Vindman’s campaign, which is also under fire for potential illegal coordination with a super PAC for its communications, did not respond to The Spectator’s request for comment. 

–Matthew Foldi