Kurt Volker reverses past testimony, admits Sondland brought up Biden investigations in meeting with Ukraine

Kurt Volker.
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker has one big revision to his first impeachment testimony.

In his original closed-door testimony, when asked if there was any talk of investigating the Bidens in a July 10 meeting with a Ukrainian defense leader, Volker repeatedly answered "no." But when appearing publicly before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, Volker reversed that statement.

In his lengthy opening statement Tuesday, Volker mentioned meeting with then-National Security Adviser John Bolton, Ukraine's then-National Security and Defense Chief Alex Danylyuk, and other leaders. "I remember, the meeting was essentially over when Ambassador Sondland made a generic comment about investigations," Volker's new statement read, referring to U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland and Trump's desired political investigations. "I think all of us thought it was inappropriate; the conversation did not continue," Volker added.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Flash back to last month when Volker was asked if there was any talk of Rudy Giuliani's desired Biden probe in that meeting. Volker didn't even let the questioner finish before answering "no" three times in a row.

Volker also made another change to his previous testimony, saying that while he didn't tell Ukraine there were conditions to receive U.S. aid, he "did not know" if others "were conveying a different message to them around that same time."

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.