A witness called by Republican politicians has informed the impeachment inquiry that allegations of corruption in Ukraine leveled at Joe Biden was not credible. The Democratic former vice president, Kurt Volker informed members of Congress that he did not believe it. Volker informed the House Intelligence Committee, “As I said, I don’t find it plausible or credible that vice president Biden would have been influenced in his duties. But Ukrainians in the society we know, Ukraine has been for decades trying to act in a corrupt way or buy influence, and that is plausible”. The comments from Volker (a former US special envoy to Ukraine and a one-time ambassador to NATO) were more striking due to he was among those witnesses called by Republican members of the intelligence committee.
Volker also highlighted the role of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. He played in pushing the administration’s policy towards Ukraine. He said Giuliani mentioned allegations during a meeting regarding Biden and his son, Hunter. The former New York mayor had stressed that all he wanted to see was for Ukraine to investigate what happened in the past and apply its own laws. Volker went on to say he informed Giuliani he didn’t think Biden would have been influenced in any way by financial or personal motives. Republicans have long accused Biden used his position as vice president to oust a Ukraine prosecutor who was tasked with investigating corruption.
They claim Biden did so as part of an effort to protect his son, who had a position on the board of a Ukraine-based energy company, Burisma. Biden has always denied the claims and there has been no evidence produced to support them. Volker said, “At the one in-person meeting I had with mayor Giuliani on July 19, mayor Giuliani raised, and I rejected, the conspiracy theory that vice president Biden would have been influenced in his duties as vice president by money paid to his son”. He added, “As I testified previously, I have known vice president Biden for 24 years. He is an honorable man and I hold him in the highest regard”.