The House Congressional Intelligence Committee on Intelligence has published excerpts from the testimony of former Washington Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Walker. The official testified on October 3 as part of an investigation into the congress, which aims to impeach Donald Trump for his conversation with the head of Ukraine, Vladimir Zelensky.

Congressmen claim Trump allegedly abused his powers, demanding Zelensky to facilitate an investigation into former US Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

In a telephone conversation that was published by the White House in September, Trump asked Zelensky to establish the degree of involvement of Joe Biden in the resignation of Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin in 2016 and to find out whether this resignation was motivated by Biden’s desire to prevent an anti-corruption investigation against his son.

However, Walker said at the meeting that former US Vice President Biden, who was then Special Representative for Ukraine, was acting in accordance with Washington’s policies.

“Earlier in the course of the testimony, you stated that there was no doubt that Vice President Biden acted completely, I rephrase, honestly and openly in terms of recommendations to get rid of Attorney General Shokin. Is this true? ”One of the committee members asked Volker.

“At that time, he was engaged in the implementation of US policy and what was generally considered the right course in the international community as a whole,” he said.

According to Walker, he did not believe in Joe Biden's involvement in any illegal actions.

“And at that breakfast with Rudy (Presidential Advocate Rudolph Giuliani. - RT ), when we first met to talk, I told him about my disbelief that Joe Biden could be affected by money or services for his son, adding that I have known him for a long time, that he is professional and all this is nonsense, ”Volcker’s response is given in the transcript of the congress.

  • Joe Biden during a meeting with Petro Poroshenko
  • Reuters
  • © Gleb Garanich

Walker's words run counter to Trump’s claims that Joe Biden improperly influenced the policies of a sovereign state by ordering the Ukrainian authorities to dismiss an unwanted prosecutor. Thus, experts say, with his testimony, Volker gives the Democrats a reason to accuse the US president of the unfair use of official powers.

As explained by the director of the U.S. Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, Yuri Rogulev, State Department officials, many of whom began their careers under Barack Obama, are interested in representing Trump as a president who has exceeded his authority and deserves impeachment.

“This impeachment is not necessary in order to reveal the facts and get to the bottom of the truth. Democrats have a very definite goal - to dump Trump. Anyone who wishes to take part in this campaign and answer questions accordingly will do so. This is all pure politics, ”the expert concluded.

Trump and Ukraine

During his speech, Kurt Walker also told committee members that State Department officials had urged Trump to work with Vladimir Zelensky, but the American leader did not believe in the good faith of the Ukrainian side. According to Walker, the president told him that “terrible people” are in the leadership of Ukraine.

"... It was a long tirade that" they are all corrupt, they are all terrible people "and" I do not want to spend a single minute on this. " This was an extensive statement. He also said: “They tried to destroy me,” Volker said.

Thus, Walker's words confirm the reports of the American media, which, referring to Trump's entourage, wrote that the president allegedly believes that in 2016 Kiev tried to help Hillary Clinton win the election. Thus, the press claimed that, according to the president, Kiev was the hacker of the Democratic Party’s mail, not Moscow, and Clinton’s stolen letters were stored in Ukraine.

The Washington Post, in turn, noted that, according to one of Trump’s entourage, the US president “just hated Ukraine.”

Neutral position

It is worth noting that Kurt Walker during his speech in Congress said that Donald Trump did not connect the meeting with Vladimir Zelensky with an investigation of the Bidenov’s activities and did not set up an investigation as a condition for continuing high-level contacts.

“The answer to this question is: no ... There is no relationship,” Walker told congressmen.

  • US President Donald Trump and former Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Walker
  • Reuters

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, the chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada, the testimonies of Kurt Walker in this case are designed in such a way as to demonstrate his most neutral position and not to compromise Walker himself during the investigation as part of the impeachment procedure.

“Walker resigned as special representative and, under the Trump administration, can no longer count on occupying the corresponding position, so it is important for him to maintain some kind of relationship, prospects for his political future. The main thing for him is to remain in equilibrium so as not to support the previous administration and not harm the current one. He wants to maintain an equidistant position from Trump and his opponents and thereby secure a political future, ”the expert explained.

This position is shared by the Deputy Director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of RUDN University Nikita Danyuk.

“Walker is a rather ambitious person, he wants to continue to provide active consulting and lobbying services to various states, forces and corporations. In order not to lose these communications, he now takes a fairly neutral position. It is unclear how the elections will end in November 2020, whether Trump will be able to maintain his presidency, and this greatly depends on what the US political landscape will look like. Therefore, Walker wants to leave room for maneuver. This is the key to political longevity in the context of the American political system, ”the expert noted in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, Vladimir Vasiliev noted, the testimonies of Walker, as well as other officials of the US State Department, still play into the hands of the Democratic Party conducting an investigation into Trump.

“Most likely, Walker believes that the impeachment process in one form or another will really lead to Trump leaving the political arena, so it is important for him to maintain relations with the Democratic Party,” the expert concluded.

Nikita Danyuk recalled that, despite the fact that Volcker was appointed precisely by Trump, he was never in the team of the US President.

The political scientist explained that the White House did not manage to completely renew the composition of the US State Department due to the lack of competent specialists who would share and be loyal to Donald Trump's political course. This leads to the fact that officials working in the department are ready to present the president as deserving of impeachment on any grounds.

“In the State Department, many are still trying to add fuel to the fire of the investigation, instead of closing this topic using their confessions and testimonies,” Danyuk concluded.