he was a direct channel to the President. Ukrainian officials you were dealing with would have understood that, would they not?
A. I would not say that they thought of him as an agent, but that he was a way of communicating, that you could get something to Giuliani and he would be someone who would be talking to the President anyway, so it would flow information that way.
Q. So this was someone who had the President's ear?
A. Yes. That's fair.[1]
In his public testimony, Ambassador Volker reiterated that Mayor Giuliani was not speaking on the President's behalf. He explained:
I made clear to the Ukrainians that Mayor Giuliani was a private citizen, the President's personal lawyer, and not representing the U.S. Government. Likewise, in my conversations with Mayor Giuliani, I never considered him to be speaking on the President's behalf, or giving instructions. Rather, the information flow was the other way, from Ukraine to Mayor Giuliani, in the hopes that this would clear up the information reaching President Trump.[2]
During her closed-door deposition, Dr. Hill confirmed this assessment, explaining that she could not say that Mayor Giuliani was acting on President Trump's behalf.[3]
Andrey Yermak, in an August 2019 New York Times article, said it was also not clear to him whether Mayor Giuliani was speaking on behalf of President Trump.[4] According to the Times, Mayor Giuliani "explicitly stated that he was not" speaking on behalf of the President.[5] President Trump confirmed this fact in a November 2019 interview, explaining that he did not direct Mayor Giuliani's Ukraine activities.[6]
8. Ambassador Volker, Ambassador Sondland, and Secretary Perry kept the National Security Council and the State Department informed about their actions.
As Ambassador Volker, Ambassador Sondland, and Secretary Perry engaged with Ukrainian government officials, they maintained communications with the State Department and NSC. This coordination undercuts any notion that President Trump orchestrated a "shadow" foreign policy apparatus to work outside of the State Department or NSC.
- ↑ Id. (emphasis added).
- ↑ 'Impeachment Inquiry: Ambassador Kurt Volker and Mr. Timothy Morrison, supra note 8.
- ↑ Hill deposition, supra note 12, at 424-25.
- ↑ Kramer & Vogel, supra note 176.
- ↑ Id.
- ↑ Daniel Chaitin, 'I didn't direct him': Trump denies sending Giuliani to Ukraine, Wash. Exam., Nov. 26, 2019.
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