When Congress returns next week, funding for military aid to Ukraine will be on the table in the House. However, if Speaker Mike Johnson brings Ukraine aid up for a vote which will pass, the MAGA Republicans have threatened his tenure as speaker.

Cringing before the pathologically revengeful leadership of Donald Trump, the MAGA right has no intention of providing these critical funds for Ukraine. I would support the Democrats using a discharge petition to get this funding passed if that is what is needed and hope you will, too.

The reason for Trump’s opposition is to exact revenge against President Volodymyr Zelensky for his 2019 refusal to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, in the Rudolph Giuliani-fabricated “Burisma” case. Trump held congressionally approved funds for Ukraine illegally and then tried to bribe Zelensky to investigate the Bidens. (“You can do us a favor though.”) A whistleblower revelation of the recorded Trump/Zelensky conversation revealed this illicit demand and led to Trump’s first impeachment.

This fall, Republican James Comer’s Oversight Committee sought once again to skewer Hunter Biden with these charges as a path to impeach President Joe Biden. In February, their key witness, Alexander Smirnov, who has been working with Russian intelligence services, was arrested and held for lying to the FBI about the Bidens’ alleged “crimes.”

The Ukranians are fighting for democracy against Russian totalitarian aggression. We must support the Ukrainians. Please write to Rep. Jim McGovern and let him know you support his stand for Ukraine funding.

Susan J. Tracy

Professor emerita of U.S. history,
Hampshire College