{"id":1563137,"date":"2022-07-20T15:19:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T19:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1563137"},"modified":"2022-07-20T15:19:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T19:19:14","slug":"attacks-on-rep-victoria-spartz-should-pique-your-curiosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/attacks-on-rep-victoria-spartz-should-pique-your-curiosity\/","title":{"rendered":"Attacks On Rep. Victoria Spartz Should Pique Your Curiosity"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fattacks-on-rep-victoria-spartz-should-pique-your-curiosity%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1563137&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Everyone should read my colleague John Daniel Davidson\u2019s excellent <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/20\/as-questions-mount-about-corruption-in-ukraine-the-neocon-narrative-is-unraveling\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">piece<\/a> detailing Rep. Victoria Spartz and her claims about Ukrainian corruption.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you make of Spartz\u2019s contentions, the very fact that a Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee member is given anonymity to smear a colleague who is bringing up issues the media should be asking legislators about is curious. If Spartz is spreading conspiracies or fabrications, a\u00a0Republican House Committee member should be able to publicly debunk\u00a0those claims\u2014otherwise cynics may get the idea someone is trying to hide something.<\/p>\n<p>One probable reason for\u00a0hiding behind anonymity to level these attacks is that any assurance of Ukraine\u2019s virtuousness could easily backfire.\u00a0Ukraine was one of the most corrupt in Europe before the Russian invasion, and there\u2019s no reason to believe it has suddenly reformed as tens of billions of dollars flow in. A 2018 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transparency.org\/en\/news\/corruption-perceptions-index-2017\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> ranked Ukraine around 130 of 180 countries and territories in corruption, in the vicinity of Gambia, Iran, and Myanmar on the list. Pointing out this reality doesn\u2019t make you pro-Putin\u2014that gangster\u2019s country is slotted in one space lower than Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>If Volodymyr Zelensky\u2019s confidants\u2014namely, Andriy Yermak and Oleh Tatarov\u2014are trusted stewards of seemingly unlimited aid, it does nothing to diminish our support for \u201cdemocracy\u201d to ask for more coordination and oversight. The anonymous source tells Politico that we\u2019ve already \u201cvetted these guys.\u201d We have? The story offers no evidence to back this assertion up. Did they vet these guys like they did our Taliban <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2021\/08\/26\/us-officials-provided-taliban-with-names-of-americans-afghan-allies-to-evacuate-506957\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">al<\/a>lies? Are \u201cwe\u201d providing the same meticulous oversight over the aid that we did over the up to $400 billion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/justice-department\/biggest-fraud-generation-looting-covid-relief-program-known-ppp-n1279664\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stolen<\/a> from the Covid relief bill? We have no reason to take these people at their word.<\/p>\n<p>An earlier Politico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2022\/07\/09\/ukraine-foreign-ministry-blasts-rep-victoria-spartzs-cynical-allegations-00044860\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">piece<\/a> amplified accusations by Ukrainian officials who accused Spartz of being a Putin stooge and opportunist. A spokesperson for Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Ministry claimed Spartz was \u201ctrying to earn extra political capital.\u201d How? By challenging the dominant position of the entire D.C. establishment? Seems unlikely. An immigrant from Ukraine, Spartz has visited the country six times since Russia invaded. Her concerns don\u2019t strike me as unreasonable. They do not strike me as pro-Russia. Yet, according to Politico, \u201cthere\u2019s a widespread fear that her posture is damaging U.S.-Ukraine relations at the worst possible time \u2014 and that she\u2019s being played by forces that aim to weaken the Western alliance.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>As Nate Hochman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/victoria-spartz-deserves-a-real-argument-on-ukraine\/?taid=62d34aaff0954100015d1881&#038;utm_campaign=trueanthem&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">points out<\/a>, the piece offers no evidence that Spartz is being played by anyone. Nor is there any proof offered by anyone that a freshman congresswoman from Indiana has the power to weaken an international alliance. Do other NATO members not allow representatives to make inquiries on foreign aid? <\/p>\n<p>Politicians signing off on tens of billions in aid should be able to openly defend their choices. Now, I certainly make no claim to have special insight into the Ukrainian\/Russian conflict. Though I hope Ukraine irreparably damages Putin\u2019s regime, I\u2019m relatively certain Ukraine can\u2019t \u201cwin\u201d against a nuclear power. Surviving is a victory. That doesn\u2019t mean, however, we should feel compelled to discard all skepticism and reason at home, or end transparency and debate, when we\u2019re talking about a dangerous, long-term foreign policy entanglement. That is not, as history has consistently shown, a good idea.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books\u2014the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eurotrash-America-Reject-Failed-Continent\/dp\/0063066017\/\">Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent<\/a>. His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post, and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidharsanyi\/\">@davidharsanyi<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone should read my colleague John Daniel Davidson\u2019s excellent piece detailing Rep. Victoria Spartz and her claims about Ukrainian corruption. Whatever you make of Spartz\u2019s contentions, the very fact that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":1897761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1563137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/20\/attacks-on-victoria-spartz-should-pique-your-curiosity\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=attacks-on-victoria-spartz-should-pique-your-curiosity","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1563137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1563137\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1897761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1563137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1563137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1563137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}