Senate Republicans Monday revived an investigation into whether Ukrainians coordinated with the Democratic National Committee to provide damaging information on President Trump ahead of the 2016 election.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson of Wisconsin wrote to Attorney General William Barr that they also want to know whether the Justice Department has information from Ukrainian prosecutors that contradicts former Vice President Joe Biden’s explanation for threatening to withhold $1 billion from the country.
The two Republican committee chairmen sent the letter days after House Democrats announced they had launched a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump in response to his July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Democrats allege Trump used the power of his office to coerce Zelensky into investigating Biden and his threat to withhold the $1 billion.
Republicans have long sought to expose efforts by Democrats to dig up dirt on Trump and his campaign from the Ukrainian government.
Grassley first wrote to the Justice Department in July 2017 seeking information about “brazen efforts by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton campaign to use the government of Ukraine for the express purpose of finding negative information on then-candidate Trump in order to undermine his campaign.”
A central player in the operation, Grassley said, was Ukrainian-American Alexandra Chalupa, whose purpose was “exposing alleged ties between then-candidate Donald Trump, Paul Manafort, and Russia.”
Grassley and Johnson want to know if Barr is investigating “links and coordination” between Ukrainian government officials and the DNC or Clinton campaign.
They also want Barr to explain why Chalupa has not been required to register as a foreign agent.
