WASHINGTON — House Republicans launched an investigation Wednesday of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to battleground Pennsylvania this week — describing it as an apparent campaign stop to benefit Vice President Kamala Harris.

Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) demanded communications about Zelensky’s visit to a Scranton ammunition factory with Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a key Harris backer.

Comer likened Zelensky’s Sunday trip — including the Ukrainian leader’s use of an Air Force C-17 cargo jet — to former President Donald Trump’s use of federal resources to pressure Zelensky to investigate alleged corruption by President Biden’s family, for which Trump was impeached in 2019.

“The Biden-Harris Administration recently flew [Zelensky] on an American taxpayer-funded flight to Pennsylvania, a battleground state in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, which has been described as the ‘trickiest battleground for Vice President Kamala Harris to win,’” Comer wrote in his demand for documents.

“The Committee seeks to determine whether the Biden-Harris Administration attempted to use a foreign leader to benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign and, if so, necessarily committed an abuse of power.”

Zelensky, who spoke Wednesday at the United Nations in New York, has expressed concern that Trump would force him to cede Russian-occupied territory to end the 31-month-old war if the Republican reclaims the White House.

At a campaign event Wednesday in North Carolina, Trump accused Zelensky of “making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president, me.”

The 45th president added that Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022 due to the “stupidity of what [Biden and Harris] said” and that “Biden and Kamala allowed this to happen by feeding Zelensky money and munitions like no country has ever seen before.”

“Every time he came to our country, he’d walk away with $60 billion — probably the greatest salesman on Earth. But now Ukraine is running out of soldiers. They’re using young children and old men because their soldiers are dying,” Trump said.

“We continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refuses to make a deal, Zelensky. There was no deal that he could have made that wouldn’t have been better than the situation you have right now. You have a country that has been obliterated.”

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) demanded Wednesday that Zelensky “immediately fire” Kyiv’s envoy to the US, Oksana Markarova, who Johnson said organized the Pennsylvania trip.

“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,” Johnson wrote. “The tour was clearly a partisan campaign designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference. 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. She should be removed from her post immediately.”

The Scranton Times-Tribune reported that journalists were not allowed to accompany Zelensky as he toured the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, which produces 155mm artillery shells for howitzer systems used by Ukraine — but images of the visit were distributed to the media along with Army press release quotes.

The Census Bureau estimates that Pennsylvania has the country’s second-highest population of Ukrainian Americans at nearly 100,000. Trump lost Pennsylvania by 80,555 votes in 2020.

“The Committee seeks to understand the circumstances that led — and any facts that could justify — the Biden-Harris Administration to transport President Zelensky on a Department of the Air Force aircraft to Pennsylvania,” Comer wrote.

“On September 22, 2024, The New Yorker published an interview with President Zelensky, in which he made multiple critical comments about the Trump-Vance ticket. President Zelensky said that President Trump’s running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, is ‘too radical.’ He further stated his belief that President Trump and his administration would not be able to stop the war, despite this being one of President Trump’s main campaign platforms.”

The Republican committee chairman wrote that “[t]his rhetoric coming from a foreign leader released in anticipation of a US taxpayer-funded visit about the current Administration’s political opponent is highly concerning. The Committee is investigating any coordination or communication among the Biden-Harris Administration, Pennsylvania’s Office of the Governor, and President Zelensky for use or solicitation of use of government property to politically benefit Vice President Harris’s presidential campaign.”

Comer set an Oct. 2 deadline for Attorney General Merrick Garland, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and White House counsel Ed Siskel to hand over relevant documents.

The Harris campaign and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.