Kurt Volker AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Kurt Volker, the former US special representative to Ukraine, promptly shut down the GOP’s allegations of corruption against former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter in testimony before Congress on Tuesday.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee called Volker as one of their witnesses in the impeachment hearings, but he almost immediately shattered their main talking point.

A major GOP talking point in defending Trump against the impeachment inquiry is that he was justified in asking Ukraine to investigate what he believed to be corruption on the part of Hunter Biden.

But at the beginning of his testimony, Volker strongly denounced the allegations of corruption against the Bidens as „self-serving,“ „not credible,“ and a „conspiracy.“

Follow along our live coverage of the hearing here.

Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Kurt Volker, the former US special representative to Ukraine who Republicans called to testify as a witness Tuesday in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, promptly shut down GOP allegations of corruption against the Bidens.

Volker, who served as a diplomat in Ukraine, testified about his involvement in the Trump administration’s efforts to pressure Ukraine to announce investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden, who served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian oil-and-gas company, from 2014 to 2019.

One of the biggest GOP talking points in defending Trump against impeachment is that he was justified in asking Ukraine to investigate what he believed to be corruption on the part of Hunter Biden and a cover-up by his father in his capacity as vice president.

But at the beginning of his testimony, Volker shattered that line of argumentation and denounced the allegations of corruption against the Bidens as „self-serving,“ „not credible,“ and a „conspiracy“ pushed by Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

In his opening statement, Volker amended his previous testimony to clarify that he found the idea of Ukraine announcing investigations not into Burisma as an entity but specifically targeting the Bidens to be improper and „unacceptable.“

Tweet Embed:

//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1196903239389573121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Rep. Adam Schiff: „Why was it that you found the allegations against Joe Biden…not to be believed?“

Amb. Kurt Volker: „Simply because I’ve known former Vice Pres. Biden for a long time. I know how he respects his duties of higher office.“ https://t.co/SfAn7Bnx4h pic.twitter.com/9F1FGxuhlC Tweet Embed:

//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1196896970511704067?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Kurt Volker, who the GOP asked to be their witness, testifies about Rudy Giuliani’s efforts to conduct an investigation based on Trump’s conspiracy theory. pic.twitter.com/qxzs9IN0O9

A debunked theory has led to the impeachment inquiry

Trump and the GOP continue to make the discredited claim that Biden tried to help his son while vice president by calling for the firing of Viktor Shokin, a prosecutor they say was investigating Burisma.

Hunter, the younger of Joe Biden’s two sons, served on Burisma’s board providing legal advice and receiving a reported salary of about $50,000 a month. Burisma was the subject of an investigation from the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office into whether its founder Mykola Zlochevsky engaged in tax evasion, money laundering, and corruption.

Despite Trump and Giuliani’s allegations, both US and Ukrainian government officials have confirmed there’s no evidence that the Bidens did anything improper.

Furthermore, Shokin was not actively investigating Burisma when Biden called for his removal and was denounced as being ineffective at his job.

The Journal and other outlets have reported that Shokin was widely accused of being soft on corruption and hindering investigations, including the one into Burisma — in essence, Biden, and much of the international community, urged Shokin’s ouster because he was ineffective.

In fact, Shokin had hampered the investigation into Burisma long before Biden even stepped into the picture, according to The Journal. Western diplomats also say he essentially shut down one such investigation into Burisma’s founder in the UK by refusing to cooperate with authorities.

Read more:

Kurt Volker dramatically reverses his public testimony from what he previously told Congress

Republicans tried to smear Alexander Vindman by implying the US military officer has dual loyalty to Ukraine

Congressional Republicans are repeating many baseless conspiracy theories in Trump’s impeachment inquiry. Here’s why they’re all bogus.