Lets start in on Volker, since Volker and Hill have been referenced as the CORNERSTONE of Hodji's beliefs.
First is Volker's exchange in testimony, Hodji only referenced a single response, but here you can see no one had any idea aid was attached to anything! So weird! Ukraine didn't even know aid had been withheld for any specific reason, because a 55 day hold was NOT out of the ordinary in terms of how fast the approval process moves.
Devin Nunes: (01:36:05)
Ambassador Volker, you testified during your deposition that aid in fact does get held up from time to time for a whole assortment of reasons. Is that your understanding?
Kurt Volker: (01:36:16)
That is true.
Devin Nunes: (01:36:17)
And sometimes the holdups are rooted in something at OMB. Sometimes it’s at the defense department. Sometimes it’s just at the state department. Sometimes it’s on the hill, correct?
Kurt Volker: (01:36:28)
That is correct.
Devin Nunes: (01:36:29)
And so when the aid was held up for 55 days for Ukraine, that didn’t in and of itself strike you as uncommon?
Kurt Volker: (01:36:40)
No, it’s something that had happened in my career in the past. I’d seen holdups of assistance. I just assumed it was part of the decision making process. Somebody had an objection. We had to overcome it.
Now above is the illustration that such a hold was not uncommon, indeed as we see below the Ukrainians didn't even ask about it because it IS so common...Also, no Ukrainian or ANYONE in Trump's staff had ever heard of military aid being tied to the investigation.
Elise Stefanik: (01:22:45)
I wanted to start with a July 25th call between President Trump and President Zelensky. Mr. Morrison, you were on that call, and there was no mention of withholding aid on the call, correct?
Morrison: (01:22:55)
That is correct, Councilwoman.
Elise Stefanik: (01:22:56)
And there was no quid pro quo, correct?
Morrison: (01:22:59)
Correct.
Elise Stefanik: (01:22:59)
No bribery?
Morrison: (01:23:01)
Correct.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:01)
No extortion?
Morrison: (01:23:03)
Correct.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:04)
And Ambassador Volker, I presume you got a readout of the call. Is that correct?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:10)
A very terse readout, but yes.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:12)
In this terse readout of the call, Ambassador, from the US participants, was there any reference to withholding aid?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:19)
No, there was not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:19)
Any reference to bribery?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:21)
No, there was not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:22)
Any reference to quid pro quo?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:23)
No, there was not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:24)
Any reference to extortion?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:27)
No, there was not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:27)
And I presume you also got feedback from your Ukrainian counterparts as to how the call went. Did they mention the withholding of aid?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:34)
No, they did not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:35)
Did they mention any quid pro quo?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:37)
No, they did not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:37)
And did they mention any bribery?
Kurt Volker: (01:23:40)
No, they did not.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:41)
And in fact, the day after the call, you met with President Zelensky. This would be on July 26th.
Kurt Volker: (01:23:47)
That’s correct.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:47)
And in that meeting, he made no mention of quid pro quo.
Kurt Volker: (01:23:51)
No.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:51)
He made no mention of withholding the aid.
Kurt Volker: (01:23:53)
No.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:54)
He made no mention of bribery.
Kurt Volker: (01:23:55)
No.
Elise Stefanik: (01:23:56)
So the fact is, the Ukrainians were not even aware of this hold on aid. Is that correct?
Kurt Volker: (01:24:01)
That’s correct.
Weird way to do a bribe when someone doesn't even know something is being withheld and you instructed none of your people to withold anything. So odd! So much for Volker making this like a "video of a crime scene". Almost seems like things are more complex when you watch the testimony rather than CNN soundbytes.
Transcript and corresponding video can be found here.
This is going to be a great place to sort my thoughts on the subject, can even favorite my posts to act as a kind of repository. I LOVE this thread!