Ex-Ukraine Envoy Answers Lawmakers in All-Day Session

The former special envoy to Ukraine met behind closed doors with congressional investigators Tuesday looking into whether President Trump leaned on Ukrainian officials to investigate Joe Biden. Kurt Volker resigned last week after being cited in a whistleblower complaint that prompted the House to begin its impeachment inquiry. He came across as straightforward and answered every question asked of him in the daylong appearance, one person involved said. In his voluntary appearance, Volker told his questioners:

• He wasn't involved in Trump's effort to encourage an investigation of Biden and his son Hunter, the AP reports. He said he advised Ukrainians to not get involved in US politics, saying they'd be subject to accusations of interfering in a US election.
• He warned Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney, that Giuliani was receiving bad information from Ukraine about the Bidens. Volker cautioned Giuliani about buying into the theories of the country's former top prosecutor, per the Washington Post.
• He was never given a reason for Trump's decision to hold up $250 million in aid to Ukraine, during the period when Trump was pushing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for a Biden investigation.

While Volker was being interviewed, Giuliani tweeted images of text messages the two had exchanged in an effort to demonstrate he wasn't pursing an independent foreign policy while serving as Trump's lawyer. After the interview, Rep. Jim Jordan said Volker didn't say anything that "comports with any of the Democrats’ impeachment narrative." Democrats declined to comment. (More Kurt Volker stories.)