U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican representing Ohio’s Fourth Congressional District, said on CBS Sunday that Ukraine received U.S. aid because that country’s president, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky, was worth the risk.
Ukraine did not receive aid because of any reported whistleblower, Jordan told CBS Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan.
Jordan also said Democrats wanted to impeach U.S. Republican President Donald Trump even before a whistleblower complaint got filed.
“Because President Zelensky met five times with senior U.S. officials. One, of course, was the phone call with President Trump. And then four meetings, actually face to face meetings, with U.S. senators, ambassadors, with Vice President Pence. And in each of those meetings, never was it talked about linking the security assistance dollars to any type of investigations. But what did happen in those meetings is they all became convinced Zelensky’s the real deal,” Jordan told Brennan.
“Remember, we’re talking about Ukraine. One of the three most corrupt countries on the planet. And we’re talking about the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people. So, they became convinced that this media star, this new guy to politics, his party just won an overwhelming majority in their parliament, was the real deal. And he was legit and he was worth the risk.”
As for Democratic Party assertions that there was a quid pro quo, Jordan said, “The scary thing is the Democrats have been out to get this president;” adding he was “struck by listening to Speaker Pelosi’s comments, her answer to your second question” – referring to an earlier interview with Speaker of the House, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
He continued:
She used the word impostor. I’m talking about the president of the United States, who 63 million people voted for, who won an Electoral College landslide. And yet these Democrats have been trying to get him. The start of this Congress, Congresswoman Tlaib said she wants to impeach him before any evidence. Five members, think about this, on the Intelligence Committee have voted to move forward with impeachment even before the whistleblower complaint was filed.
As The Star reported last week, Jordan tweeted that Ukraine didn’t know aid was held up at the time of the call and never took any action to get aid released.
Watch the full interview:
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
