Kurt Volker

AP Photo/Susan Walsh





Kurt Volker, the former US envoy to Ukraine, made a substantial change in his testimony during Tuesday's impeachment hearings before Congress.

Volker has been accused of working with President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, to pressure Ukraine to investigate Trump's political opponents.

During his previous closed-door testimony, Volker said there was no mention of the investigations Giuliani was pushing for during a July 10, meeting with Sondland and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

But during the public impeachment hearing on Tuesday, Volker said during that meeting Sondland "made a generic comment about investigation," which Volker and others found "inappropriate."

Volker also appeared to have provided seemingly contradictory testimony about his knowledge of the link between the Ukrainian gas company Burisma and Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of the company.

Follow along with our live coverage of the hearings here.

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Kurt Volker, the former US special representative to Ukraine, made a substantial change in his testimony during Tuesday's impeachment hearings before Congress.

Volker worked with President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and US ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, to pressure Ukraine to conduct Trump's desired investigations. He was part of the so-called "three amigos," which consisted of Volker, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, and Sondland; other diplomats have said described their workings as an alternate channel withing Ukraine policy.

During his closed-door testimony last month, Volker said there was no mention of the investigations Giuliani was pushing for during a July 10, meeting with Sondland, former National Security Adviser John Bolton, and a Ukrainian official.

But during the public impeachment hearing on Tuesday, Volker gave a different account. He said that during the July 10, meeting Sondland "made a generic comment about investigations," which Volker and others found "inappropriate." Volker said the meeting ended shortly thereafter.

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Volker also testified on Tuesday that he only recently became aware of the link between the Ukrainian energy company Burisma and Hunter Biden, who sat on the board of the company.

That claim also appears to contradict previous statements made by Volker. During a July 19 meeting, Volker talked with Giuliani about the possibility that former Vice President Joe Biden had acted in his son's interest in calling for the resignation of a Ukrainian prosecutor while Hunter sat on Burisma's board. Volker testified on Tuesday that he thought that theory was entirely not credible and a "conspiracy theory."

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