Politico reports:
The former special U.S. envoy for Ukraine was the first impeachment witness to testify behind closed doors and assured lawmakers he saw no indication that President Donald Trump had conditioned a White House meeting and military assistance for Ukraine on a promise from the country’s president to investigate Trump’s political rivals.
But after a cascade of witnesses told lawmakers a far more troubling version of events — that Trump indeed seemed to be orchestrating a quid pro quo for the White House meeting and perhaps for military aid — Volker says he has a new perspective.
In perhaps one of the most glaring updates to his earlier testimony, Volker said that during a July 10 meeting at the White House with top Ukrainian officials, he now recalled that Sondland made a “generic comment about investigations” and that “all of us thought it was inappropriate.”
Biden’s clean. pic.twitter.com/yd9oaDkJJQ
— Claude Taylor (@TrueFactsStated) November 19, 2019
Volker calls the allegations against Marie Yovanovitch and Joe Biden not credible: “It’s just not credible to me that a vice president of the United States is going to do anything other than act as how he sees best for the national interest.” pic.twitter.com/vbrfP6HYXI
— Axios (@axios) November 19, 2019
Volker: “The accusation that Vice President Biden was acting inappropriately didn’t seem at all credible to me.”
Reminder: This is the GOP’s witness.
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 19, 2019
Just read Volker’s opening statement. Definitely NOT the witness Republicans were hoping for. Blows apart the Trump claim Biden did something wrong. pic.twitter.com/pY6uL5WB3S
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) November 19, 2019
Volker portrays Sondland and Giuliani — but not himself — as the ones who were interested in leveraging Ukraine to investigate the Bidens
“I have known Vice President Biden for 24 years. He is an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard.” pic.twitter.com/8X6jMRSZVc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 19, 2019