Former diplomat Kurt Volker says Rudy Giuliani was a 'direct conduit' to Ukraine and demanded they publicly announce an investigation into the Bidens
- In excerpts of his testimony to Congress, former US Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker says that Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani both served as a "conduit" to Ukrainian officials.
- Volker also said that Giuliani personally demanded Ukraine put out a statement announcing the investigations that would benefit Trump into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
- Giuliani pushed the discredited allegations that the Bidens were involved in corrupt activity, and the conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Hillary Clinton.
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In newly-released excerpts of the testimony of former US Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker to Congress, Volker said that President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani served as both a "conduit" to Ukraine and demanded they announce investigations that would be politically favorable to Trump.
Volker testified as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Trump, which centers around a whistleblower complaint claiming that the Trump administration withheld a $400 million military aid package in exchange for Ukraine announcing an investigation into the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings - where former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden served on the board from 2014 to 2019
For months, Giuliani played a crucial role in the administration's dealings with Ukraine and pushed both the discredited allegations that the Bidens were involved in corrupt activity, and the conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election to the benefit of Hillary Clinton.
Volker testified that Giuliani was a conduit to Trump and that he personally demanded Ukraine put out a statement announcing the investigations that would benefit Trump.
When asked why Ukraine would want to deal with Giuliani, a non-government official, Volker said it was "because the Ukrainians asked to be connected to him in order to try to get across their message of being different from the past," adding, "that information would flow to the President."
According to text messages turned over to Congress, Volker played an active role in setting up communications and meetings between Giuliani and Yermak, Zelensky's aide.
"Heard from White House - assuming President Z convinces trump (sic) he will investigate/'get to the bottom of what happened' in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington," Volker wrote in an August 30 text message to fellow diplomat Bil Taylor, seemingly implying that a meeting between Zelensky and Trump would be contingent on investigations.
Later in his testimony, Volker said that Giuliani specifically requested the draft statement on the investigations mention "Burisma and 2016."
Volker told investigators that he and former US ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland had "a conversation with Rudy to say: The Ukrainians are looking at this text. Rudy says: Well, if it doesn't say Burisma and if it doesn't say 2016, what does it mean? You know, it's not credible. You know, they're hiding something. And so we talked and I said: So what you're saying is just at the end of the - same statement, just insert Burisma and 2016, you think that would be more credible? And he said: Yes."