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Johnson demands Ukraine’s Zelenskyy fire ambassador amid Trump rift
Washington — House Speaker Mike Johnson called on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fire his ambassador to the U.S. amid the foreign leader’s escalating tension with former President Donald Trump and his allies.
In a letter to Zelenskyy on Wednesday, Johnson demanded the immediate firing of Oksana Markarova, accusing her of interfering in the presidential election by organizing the Ukrainian president’s recent visit to an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania.
“The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because — on purpose — no Republicans were invited,” the Louisiana Republican wrote.
He called the visit a “partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats.”
“This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country,” he said.
The Ukrainian Embassy and Pennsylvania governor’s office have not yet responded to a request for information about whether and Republican members of the congressional delegation were invited on the tour with Zelenskyy.
Zelenskyy is in the U.S. to address the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he delivered remarks Wednesday. On Sunday, he toured an ammunition factory, thanking the employees who produce one of the most critically needed munitions for the war against Russia.
The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is investigating the Pennsylvania trip to determine whether the Biden administration “attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign.” Committee chairman, Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, cited the use of a U.S. Air Force jet to transport Zelenskyy to the battleground state, his meeting with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Zelenskyy’s comments to the New Yorker.
In a recent interview, Zelenskyy told the magazine that Trump “doesn’t really know how to stop the war even if he might think he knows how.” He also called Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, “too radical.”
Trump, for his part, has claimed that he would settle the Ukraine-Russia war as soon as he takes office, if he’s reelected in November.
While campaigning in North Carolina on Wednesday, Trump knocked Zelenskyy for making “little nasty aspersions” toward him.
“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal,” he said of Zelenskyy.
Trump said last week that he would “probably” meet with Zelenskyy while he was in the U.S. But sources familiar with the former president’s schedule said this week that the two were no longer expected to meet.
On Thursday afternoon, Trump posted on social media a screenshot of an alleged message to him from Zelenskyy in which the Ukrainian leader asked to meet with Trump.
“I believe it’s important for us to have a personal contact and to understand each other 100%,” the message said.
Vance, who has opposed more aid to Ukraine, also criticized Zelenskyy at a rally in Michigan on Wednesday.
“I don’t appreciate Zelenskyy coming to this country and telling the American taxpayers what they ought to do,” Vance said. “He ought to say thank you to the American taxpayers.”
Zelenskyy was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. He also had meetings with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Johnson did not attend Zelenskyy’s meeting with House members.
Ukraine has pushed the U.S. and NATO to lift restrictions on its use of Western-supplied long-range missiles against targets in Russian territory. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Kyiv’s use of long-range missiles to hit targets deep inside his country would represent a major escalation of NATO’s involvement in the war.
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Federal prosecutors have secured criminal charges against multiple Iranian hackers for allegedly targeting members of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign as part of a malicious cyber scheme, multiple sources familiar with the investigation confirmed to CBS News.
The Iranian hackers were indicted by a grand jury on Thursday and the charges could be announced as early as Friday, the sources said. The nature of the allegations and the names of the defendants were unknown as charging documents remain under seal. The exact number of people charged was also not confirmed.
ABC News and Politico first reported on elements of the charges.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on CBS News’ reporting. A spokesperson for the Trump campaign also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Once publicly announced, the charges will mark an escalation in the federal government’s work to combat Iran’s alleged efforts to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. Federal officials have warned Iran is seeking to undermine Trump’s campaign.
The FBI launched probes earlier this summer after both the Trump and then-Biden campaigns experienced attempted phishing schemes targeting people associated with the candidates, sources told CBS News in August.
Last week, federal officials with the FBI and other intelligence agencies released a statement confirming, “Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former President Trump’s campaign as text in the emails. There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied.”
The statement went on to say that “Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations…Foreign actors are increasing their election influence activities as we approach November.”
Iran’s United Nations mission previously denied it had plans to interfere or launch cyberattacks in the U.S. presidential election, telling CBS News in a statement last week that “the Islamic Republic of Iran does not engage in the internal uproars or electoral controversies of the United States,” adding that “Iran neither has any motive nor intent to interfere in the U.S. election; and, it therefore categorically repudiates such accusations.”
Trump’s campaign revealed last month that it had been hacked and said Iranian actors were involved in stealing and distributing sensitive internal documents to members of the press.
FBI agents worked with both Google and Microsoft — two major tech firms and providers of email services — to dig into the apparent spearphishing attacks targeting those close to both presidential campaigns, according to two people familiar with the probe. A report published by Microsoft earlier this summer revealed Iran is evolving its tactics to affect the upcoming election.
Trump and former members of his administration have been increased targets of Iranian actors following the killing of Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020. Some former officials received increased protection because of death threats, and in July, federal prosecutors filed charges against a Pakistani national with ties to Iran for allegedly planning to assassinate American politicians, including possibly Trump.
Iran is not the only foreign adversary that U.S. officials say is seeking to undermine the upcoming presidential election. Intelligence agencies have warned Russia and China have launched cyber campaigns of their own to sew chaos, with Russia allegedly seeking to damage Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said, “We are seeing more threat actors, more threat actors getting into the game” of election interference, exacerbated by advancements in artificial intelligence.
The goal, according to Monaco, is to “sow discord, sow distrust in our election system and undermine confidence in our democratic process.”
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