Ex-envoy Kurt Volker warned Rudy Giuliani about Ukraine misinformation, lawmakers told as Trump impeachment inquiry begins in earnest
- Former diplomat questioned for hours over allegations that US president pressed foreign leader to investigate rival Joe Biden
- Volker is first of five current and former State Department employees investigation committees are seeking to depose in next 10 days
The former US special envoy for Ukraine told House investigators on Thursday that he warned President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, that Giuliani was receiving untrustworthy information from Ukrainian political figures about former vice-president Joe Biden and his son, according to two people familiar with his testimony.
The envoy warned Giuliani that he should be careful about putting faith in the prosecutor’s theories, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door meeting.
Volker’s testimony offers the first inside account of the Trump administration’s efforts to press for a Ukrainian investigation into Biden, who as a leading 2020 Democratic candidate to challenge Trump for the White House has become a fixed target of the president’s attacks.
At the heart of Trump’s effort is Giuliani’s contention that, as vice-president, Biden pushed for the firing of Ukraine’s former prosector general, Viktor Shokin, as part of a corrupt plot to halt investigations into a Ukrainian natural gas company that employed Biden’s son Hunter.
Joe Biden and his defenders have denied the accusation, and noted that Biden’s push to remove Shokin was part of a broader international effort that included the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, where leaders viewed Shokin as inept.