Tag: Kurt Volker

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Ukraine Envoy Told Giuliani Info Regarding Biden Was ‘Untrustworthy’

Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani (screen capture)
Via the Washington Post:

The former U.S. special envoy for Ukraine told House investigators on Thursday that he warned President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph W. Giuliani, that Giuliani was receiving untrustworthy information from Ukrainian political figures about former vice president Joe Biden and his son, according to two people familiar with his testimony.

Kurt Volker, who resigned last week after being named in a whistleblower complaint that sparked the House impeachment inquiry of Trump, said he tried to caution Guiliani that his sources, including Ukraine’s former top prosecutor, were unreliable and that he should be careful about putting faith in the prosecutor’s theories, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.

Volker’s testimony offers the first inside account of the Trump administration’s efforts to press for a Ukrainian investigation into Biden, who as a leading 2020 Democratic candidate to challenge Trump for the White House has become a fixed target of the president’s attacks.

ABC News adds that text messages have come to light that shows two American diplomats discussing the Trump administration withholding military aid. In the texts,  the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine writes to two other American diplomats that “I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign.”

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Trump’s Special Envoy To Ukraine Resigns Amid Scandal

Former special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker (screen capture)
Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, resigned today after being swept up in the ongoing scandal involving Trump asking the Ukrainian president to “do us a favor” in regard to digging up dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden. From the New York Times:

Mr. Volker, who told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday that he was stepping down, offered no public explanation but a person informed about his decision said he concluded that it was impossible to be effective in his assignment given the developments of recent days.

His departure was the first resignation since revelations about Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukraine’s president to investigate former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and other Democrats. The disclosures have triggered a full-blown House impeachment inquiry, and House leaders announced on Friday that they planned to interview Mr. Volker in a deposition next week.

Mr. Volker, a former ambassador to NATO who served in the part-time, unpaid position to help Ukraine resolve its armed confrontation with Russian-sponsored separatists, was among the government officials who found themselves in an awkward position because of the search for dirt on Democrats, reluctant to cross the president or Mr. Giuliani yet wary of getting drawn into politics outside their purview.

The unidentified intelligence official who filed the whistle-blower complaint that brought the president’s actions to light identified Mr. Volker as one of the officials trying to “contain the damage” by advising Ukrainians how to navigate Mr. Giuliani’s campaign.

Mr. Volker facilitated an entree for Mr. Giuliani with the newly elected government in Ukraine, acting not at the instruction of Mr. Trump or Mr. Pompeo but at the request of the Ukrainians who were worried that Mr. Giuliani was making the rounds seeking information about Mr. Biden and other Democrats.

ABC News reports that Democrats still expect Volker to show up for his deposition on Capitol Hill on October 3. It’s important to note that not only is the special envoy to Ukraine now gone, but the U.S. has no ambassador to Ukraine since the Trump administration called Marie Yovanovitch home for allegedly being not loyal enough.