According to transcripts that were released on Tuesday, Kurt Volker, the former U.S. envoy to Ukraine claimed that President Donald Trump did **NOT** seek to withhold or delay a meeting with the Ukrainian president unless they started an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden.

The comments were made by Volker last month during a closed-door deposition and came when he was asked if the President delayed the meeting with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky until he promised a probe into Biden.

“The answer to the question is no, if you want a yes-or-no answer. But the reason the answer is no is we did have difficulty scheduling a meeting, but there was no linkage like that,” Volker replied.

Check out what Fox News reported:

Recently revealed text messages showed Volker appearing to link the investigations to a D.C. visit by Zelensky. The deposition transcript seems to reflect Volker asserting the contrary.

House Democrats have established an impeachment inquiry to investigate the circumstances surrounding President Trump’s July 25 call with Zelensky, in which he urged him to “look into” allegations surrounding the 2016 election and the Biden family’s activities in the country.

Democrats have alleged that a quid pro quo took place, with Trump leveraging military aid until the Ukrainians investigated the claims. Trump and Zelensky have claimed that no pressure was placed on them.

During the same testimony, Volker was asked if President Trump asked Zelensky to “manufacture dirt on the Bidens.”

“No,” he responded. “And I’ve seen that phrase thrown around a lot. And I think there’s a difference between the manufacture or dig up dirt versus finding out did anything happen in the 2016 campaign or did anything happen with Burisma. I think – or even if he’s asking them to investigate the Bidens, it is to find out what facts there may be rather than to manufacture something.”

Volker continues:

Volker’s testimony, along with that of former E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland, was released Tuesday amid increasing calls from Republicans for the impeachment inquiry to be more open and transparent. They have accused Democrats of running “Soviet-style” hearings behind closed doors. Democrats have shot back, accusing the GOP of focusing on process rather than the president’s conduct.

While the White House released the transcript of the call, and a House committee released the original complaint by the Whistleblower that sparked the process, much of the inquiry is now focusing on what officials understood to be the president’s intent at the time.

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