Former Ukrainian envoy Kurt Volker’s testimony has thrown a wrench into Democrat impeachment attempts and cast a shadow of doubt over the whole narrative that Trump conspired with the Ukraine to take down Biden.
Volker – whose name appeared in the whistleblower’s complaint and would know a lot about communications with the Ukraine – has not furthered the impeachment narrative as Dems hoped, but rather only served to defend President Trump against the impeachment attempt.
In encrypted text messages between Volker and other U.S. officials, our nation’s ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland also made it clear that there was no quid pro quo in President Trump’s call to the Ukrainian president.
Sondland disputed Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Bill Taylor's implication that Trump tried to pressure Ukraine's President Zelensky to investigate the Bidens, saying in a text,
“Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo’s of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign.”
Here's more from Fox News:
Meanwhile, new encrypted text messages obtained by Fox News show Volker and other U.S. officials battling internally last month over whether Trump was engaged in a "quid pro quo" with Ukraine as he pressed for the country to look into the Biden family, while holding back U.S. aid. The texts with Volker, U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland and Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Bill Taylor indicate that the nature of a potential arrangement between the U.S. and Ukraine was a matter of dispute.
"As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign," Taylor said in a text exchange.
Sondland responded by saying that was not what was happening. "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions. The President has been crystal clear: no quid pro quo's of any kind. The President is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during his campaign."
Both men then agreed to cease discussing the matter over text, noting that phone calls with the appropriate officials would be preferable.
The Daily Caller also said:
US Ambassador to the EU Gordan Sondland pushed back on the idea that President Donald Trump wanted to establish a quid pro quo arrangement with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, according to text messages released Thursday.
Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine who resigned from the State Department last week, provided the text messages to three House committees during a closed-door deposition.
The text messages show Volker and other ambassadors indicating that Zelensky could not secure a visit to the White House until he agreed to investigate meddling in the 2016 presidential election and Burisma, the oil company that hired Hunter Biden to sit on its board.
“Heard from White House — assuming President Z convinces trump he will investigate / ‘get to the bottom of what happened’ in 2016, we will nail down date for visit to Washington,” Volker wrote to Zelensky’s adviser less than half an hour before the infamous July 25 call with Trump.
Volker later guided Zelensky’s adviser on how to craft a statement that would appeal to Trump when they announced the visit to the White House.
“We intend to initiate and complete a transparent and unbiased investigation of all available facts and episodes, including those involving Burisma and the 2016 U.S. elections, which in turn will prevent the recurrence of this problem in the future,” Volker suggested in one text.
At least one ambassador involved in the conversations, US Ambassador to the EU Gordan Sondland, pushed back on the idea that there was any quid pro quo arrangement between Zelensky and Trump.
Bill Taylor, the top diplomat to Ukraine, laid out clearly his own issues with Trump withholding military aid from Ukraine, calling it “crazy” that he would do so because he wanted Ukraine to take up his investigations against a political opponent.
“As I said on the phone, I think it’s crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor asserted.
Sondland replied, declaring that Trump was “crystal clear” about having “no quid pro quo’s.”
Newsmax added:
Fox News reported Thursday it had obtained never before seen text messages between U.S. diplomats in Europe, including one who argued he thought President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine for political gain.
In a report aired on Fox News' Outnumbered Overtime, congressional correspondent Mike Emanuel said the encrypted text messages involved former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, temporary ambassador William Taylor, and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland.
The exchange started Sept. 9, showing Taylor expressing concern to his colleagues after Michael Atkinson revealed the existence of a whistleblower related to Ukraine.
"As I sit on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign,” Taylor texts, Fox News reported.
To which Sondland replied: "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions."
"The president has been crystal clear: no quid pro quos of any kind. The president is trying to evaluate whether Ukraine is truly going to adopt the transparency and reforms that President Zelensky promised during the campaign. I suggest we stop the back and forth by text."
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!