Spartz requests President Biden to brief Congress on Andriy Yermak, President Zelensky's Chief of Staff

М.Терлецький
10 липня 2022 р.

July 8, 2022

President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President,

As part of a congressional oversight inquiry, I request your Administration to brief Congress on the performed due diligence and oversight procedures related to President Zelensky’s Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, at the scheduled classified congressional oversight briefing on July 12, 2022.

Based on a variety of intelligence and actions by Mr. Yermak in Ukraine, Congress needs to obtain this information urgently. Considering our material involvement in this conflict, we owe this level of rigor and accountability to the American people to ensure that our assistance does not get into the hands of the wrong people, as Ukraine urgently needs increased levels and speed of security assistance from your Administration, which unfortunately has not been the case.

As President Zelensky works very hard to build alliances with the west and our country, it is our responsibility to inform him if we might have any concerns with key people around him. It is also our obligation to the brave Ukrainian soldiers and strong Ukrainian people fighting this fight for freedom and international order for all of us.

Additionally, I would like to bring to your attention that Mr. Yermak appointed Mr. Oleg Tatarov as his deputy for law enforcement to combat corruption who instead, as you well know, has been delaying the appointment of an independent anti-corruption prosecutor for over a year, rendering the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) dysfunctional.

Mr. Tatarov was under investigation by the NABU in 2020 before his appointment where his case was inappropriately transferred to a regular prosecutor and closed. Mr. Tatarov was also a top police official under former President Yanukovych prosecuting Euromaidan protestors.

Mr. Yermak raises many concerns with a variety of people in the United States and internationally, it is believed that he is highly regarded by your top National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. I would like your answers to Congress as soon as possible on this urgent matter to confirm or deny these allegations. Feel free to reach out to my office directly for more details on our briefing. I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,
Victoria Spartz.

Member of Congress (IN-05)
cc: Secretary Antony Blinken; Ambassador Bridget Brink