Congress is getting ready to approve an extra $60 billion in taxpayer money for Ukraine even though the country's leaders are accused of stealing a lot of it, so much so that the head of the CIA has told them to stop.
On Saturday, after House Speaker Mike Johnson guided the Ukraine aid bill through the House despite opposition from his fellow Republicans, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement to convey his thanks to the legislators, especially the speaker.
“I am thankful to the United States House of Representatives, both parties, and especially Speaker Mike Johnson for making a decision that keeps history on the right path,” said Zelenskyy.
In a following video, the Ukrainian president suggested that the money would be used to support “our soldiers on the front lines, as well as our cities and villages suffering from Russian aggression.”
However, independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed earlier this month that Zelenskyy and the higher ranks of Ukraine’s government and military have been stealing so much of the previously approved aid funds that the head of the CIA had to step in, based on unnamed U.S. intelligence officials.
According to Hersh, senior Ukrainian officials have been establishing front businesses outside the country to sell weapons and ammo meant for the front lines to arms dealers worldwide in exchange for kickbacks. The corruption is alleged to reach the highest levels, with Zelenskyy himself said to be taking so much that CIA Director William Burns was sent to Ukraine last January to advise him to be more discreet, according to Hersh’s investigation.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), whose upper chamber is expected to approve the aid, pointed to the enthusiasm with which House members celebrated sending billions of American taxpayer dollars to Ukraine for revealing the legislators’ true priorities.
Writing on X, Paul said, “Ukrainian flags fly in the chamber of the UNITED STATES House of Representatives as they vote to send more of your hard-earned money to a corrupt foreign regime. And just like that they shout ‘UKRAINE! UKRAINE!’ while happily working to secure Ukraine’s borders, not ours.”
Paul has indicated that he will vote no on sending more American tax dollars to Ukraine.
In a sign of the deep split within the Republican Party on the issue, Republican pundit Paul Nehring responded to Paul’s post by stating, “Rand Paul misrepresents Russia’s war on Ukraine as something about ‘borders.’ It’s a war, and America stands on the side of freedom.”
