US House Speaker Mike Johnson called for greater oversight of US aid to Ukraine Sunday, suggesting concerns over corruption in Kiev played a role in many Republicans’ hesitancy to approve further funding.
“What is the endgame in Ukraine?” asked the lawmaker rhetorically during a television interview. “What is our strategy? What is the objective? How will we have proper oversight over these precious taxpayer dollars?”
“What we're saying is, let's do this in a rational manner,” he added. “We need accountability for the people who are funding that. The White House has not been forthcoming with those answers,” Johnson stressed.
Americans’ support for arming Ukraine has declined sharply over the last several months with a plurality now saying the US has sent too much money to the country. The anti-establishment flank of the Republican Party has led the charge against Ukraine aid as President Zelensky’s vaunted 2023 counteroffensive against Russia was widely considered a failure.
Some Republicans have also alleged an axis of corruption extending from US President Joe Biden to Kiev. Former President Donald Trump famously attempted to have authorities in Ukraine investigate the Biden family’s ties to the country, which are under a cloud of controversy.
Meanwhile Ukraine has been dubbed “the most corrupt nation in Europe” by journalists, with various data supporting the dubious honor. It was reported a year ago that the Kiev regime was using US aid to purchase Russian oil even as the two countries battled in the Donbass region, with officials pocketing the money saved from buying the cheaper fuel.
House Republicans pursued an impeachment inquiry against Biden late last year after it was revealed he had greater knowledge of his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings than he originally claimed. Johnson slammed the Biden administration’s lack of cooperation with their efforts, noting “the investigation has been impeded, the White House has suddenly refused to turn over documents that have been requested and certain witnesses that are key to unwinding exactly what happened.”
“We have investigated these credible claims [of corruption], whistleblowers have come forward, we had three different committees of the House do extensive investigation on this,” he added. “The investigations led to a certain point, the truth has been followed wherever it led, because that's the responsibility of Congress.”
Investigations have revealed that Biden was with his son Hunter during phone calls where Hunter discussed business dealings in Ukraine. Republicans have also unearthed a web of complex companies and financial maneuvers the Biden family has used to move money around. Biden was previously one of the poorest US senators with a reported net worth of negative $106,000 in 2008, but his financial fortunes have dramatically improved since his time as vice president under Barack Obama.
“You have more than $20 million that has been moved to the Biden family through many of their shell companies and in LLCs, that they set up. We know that a lot of that money came from foreign adversaries,” Johnson claimed Sunday.
“We know that Joe Biden discussed Hunter Biden's business dealings at least 22 times with his associates from these foreign countries, and we know he was not truthful about it, he lied about the American people at least 16 times on record,” he added. “So it raises a lot of questions.”
Johnson also insisted any further US aid to Ukraine must be accompanied by funds devoted to border security; House Republicans have made repeated efforts to legislatively link the two issues in recent weeks.
“We must secure the US border before we secure anyone else's,” Johnson insisted.