Release The Full Volker Transcript Or I Will Have Him Testify Publicly
Though Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has been a vocal critic of President Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria, when it comes to House Democrats and their
show trial impeachment inquiry, Graham remains one of the President’s strongest allies.
Earlier this afternoon, Graham tweeted out a warning for House Democratic leaders to release the full transcript of former Ambassador Kurt Volker’s testimony from last Thursday. If they continue to stall, Graham made it clear he’d use his power as Senate Judiciary Chair to have him questioned publicly:
Graham’s second tweet linked to an interview Fox News did today with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who is the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee. Jordan said during the segment that Volker testified for nine hours, and that Democrats should release the full transcript in the interest of transparency:
“Release the transcript so they can see what Ambassador Volker spent nine hours telling us,” Jordan said. “Where he said there was no quid pro quo, there was no linkage… between security assistance dollars for Ukraine and any type of investigation into anyone in Ukraine or any investigation into the Bidens.
“He was clear about that [and] reinforced exactly what President [Volodymyr] Zelensky said when he said, ‘I was not pushed by the administration,'” he continued. “Adam Schiff won’t release that. Instead, there were 67 pages of text messages. Adam Schiff took a few of those text messages and released them. Release them all.”
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“The president was willing to release the transcript of the call with President Zelensky. Why won’t Adam Schiff release the transcript of the special envoy who testified for nine hours?”
Watch Jordan discuss Volker’s testimony and House Intel Chair Adam Schiff’s deceptive actions below:
Rep. @Jim_Jordan:— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) October 9, 2019
"We're talking about impeaching the President of the United States thirteen months before an election based on an anonymous whistleblower with no firsthand knowledge who has a bias against the President." pic.twitter.com/0Wn69dbKlY
Jordan’s comments echo what Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), the ranking member on the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said to journalists on Tuesday in a fiery statement about what he described as a “clown show” impeachment inquiry:
“Maybe you should ask what was said inside of Volker’s deposition during his transcribed interview with regards to Adam Schiff’s fairy tale quid pro quo charge, that aid from the United States to the Ukraine was being linked to an investigation into the Bidens. Why don’t you ask what did Ambassador Volker say about that?
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…if we weren’t there last Thursday, you would have no idea of everything that Ambassador Volker said to obliterate Adam Schiff’s fairy-tale quid pro quo charge. You’d have no idea.
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This entire thing is a political charade, is a clown show.
Schiff and company have held up Volker as a trustworthy, unassailable witness for their side in these sham proceedings so far. That they continue to refuse to release the full transcript of his testimony is a strong indicator that what Republicans like Zeldin and Jordan are saying is true, that what Volker said during the course of his hours-long questioning undermined the so-called impeachment case against Trump.