Tipsheet

'Volker’s Testimony Was a Huge Flop': Dems Release Diplomats' Texts After Ex-Ukraine Envoy's Testimony

The Democratic chairmen of the House Intelligence, Oversight and Reform, and Foreign Affairs Committees released a 25-page document late Thursday night following former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker's testimony to Congress. 

Volker's closed-door testimony is part of the House's impeachment probe into President Trump's actions with Ukraine and his push to have the country investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

In their letter to the members of the three committees, Reps. Adam Schiff, Elliot Engel, and Elijah Cummings wrote they wanted to relay their "grave concerns with the unprecedented actions" of Trump.

Their letter includes more text messages between Volker and other American diplomats, where they debated if Trump was engaged in a "quid pro quo" when he asked Ukraine to look into allegations of wrongdoing by Biden's family, as he held back U.S. aid, according to Fox News.

In one exchange, Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine Bill Taylor wrote, "As I said on the phone, I think it's crazy to withhold security assistance for help with a political campaign."

"Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump's intentions," U.S. Ambassador to the EU Gordon Sondland replied.

"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," he added.

"These text messages reflect serious concerns raised by a State Department official about the detrimental effects of withholding crucial military assistance from Ukraine, and the importance of setting up a meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian President without further delay," the chairmen wrote.

In the newly-released text messages, Volker wrote how he had repeatedly talked with Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, about Ukraine. Giuliani has been subpoenaed by the three House committees to turn over documents relating to his actions regarding Ukraine.

Volker also texted Andriy Yermak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, prior to their July 25 call that, "assuming [Zelensky] convinces trump he will investigate/'get to the bottom' of what happened in 2016, we will nail down a date for visit to Washington."

"What do you do when you realize you’ve lost the day? Release a bunch of picked-over documents at 10:30 p.m. and hope that something sticks," a congressional aide with direct knowledge of Volker's testimony told Townhall. "This is an act of desperation by the Democrats. They know that Volker’s testimony was a huge flop. They're running scared."