Free Republic

Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked war with Ukraine could come to a conclusion this year, according to a former US Army general who warned that the Kremlin would likely turn to the dire option of nuclear weapons if Moscow faces defeat in the conflict.Retired US Army Brig. Gen. Kevin Ryan told Insider on Tuesday that he believes that Russia "would use a nuclear weapon before it allowed its military to be defeated in the field."Putin has repeatedly threatened the use of nuclear weapons since he ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but Ryan said that the Kremlin may...

Republicans sounded a celebratory note as House Democrats' impeachment inquiry wrapped up another day of public hearings Tuesday evening, saying the day's witnesses had served only to highlight fundamental problems in the case against President Trump. “Did anyone ever ask you to bribe or extort anyone at any time during your time in the White House?" House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., asked at one point in Tuesday's afternoon hearing. Former National Security Council (NSC) aide Tim Morrison: "No." Former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker: “No." Later, Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., hit the same notes in...

Two administration officials did not appear Tuesday for scheduled testimony in the House impeachment inquiry into President Trump, making them the latest White House aides to skip planned depositions. Wells Griffith, a special assistant to the president and senior director for international energy and environment on the National Security Council, did not appear for his Tuesday morning deposition. Michael Duffey, associate director for national security at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was absent for his closed-door hearing slated for Tuesday afternoon. The move came the same day House Democrats released transcripts of depositions with U.S. Ambassador to the...

Daily Reminder: Lindsey Graham Could Call in Former US Ambassador Kurt Volker to Testify and Blow Up Dem Impeachment Narrative – But He Refuses to Act… Why? (UPDATED) [Full title] ... On May 1, 2019 Lindsey Graham, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, promised investigations on how the Mueller probe started. Senator Graham made the the comments during testimony by US Attorney General Bill Barr in front of the US Senate. ... But Lindsey Graham lied.. Lindsey Graham is a fraud. Lindsey Graham has scheduled NO COMMITTEE HEARINGS on Deep State, FBI, CIA, Spygate, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, Mueller,...

In a secret interview, Rep. Adam Schiff, leader of the House Democratic effort to impeach President Trump, pressed former United States special representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker to testify that Ukrainian officials felt pressured to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden's son Hunter as a result of Trump withholding U.S. military aid to Ukraine. Volker denied that was the case, noting that Ukrainian leaders did not even know the aid was being withheld and that they believed their relationship with the U.S. was moving along satisfactorily, without them having done anything Trump mentioned in his notorious July 25 phone conversation...

Last night House Intelligence Committee Democrats released a series of selective text messages from testimony given by former U.S. envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker. They make President Trump look very bad, even engaged in a quid pro quo with Ukraine. But they're hiding the context of the messages and the full picture by refusing to release Volker's full testimony. Republicans have repeatedly requested it be done and Chairman Adam Schiff is refusing to do so. Dan Crenshaw ✔@DanCrenshawTX One key fact about yesterday’s closed-door witness interview? Republicans are the ones calling for public release of the deposition transcript. That should...

The press is having a field day with some supposedly damning text messages surrounding the Trump administration's dealings with military aid to Ukraine and the need to get to the bottom of how the 2016 Russian collusion hoax happened. Here's National Review's rundown: The chairs of the House Committees released a document late Thursday night containing text messages that “reflect serious concerns raised by a State Department official about the detrimental effects of withholding crucial military assistance from Ukraine, and the importance of setting up a meeting between President Trump and the Ukrainian President without further delay.” The texts...

The exchange, provided by former U.S Special Envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker as part of his closed-door deposition before multiple House committees Thursday, shows what appears to be encrypted text messages he exchanged with two other American diplomats in September regarding aid money President Donald Trump ordered to be held back from Ukraine. In the exchange, obtained by ABC News, the concerns are expressed by Bill Taylor, the top U.S. diplomat to Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, the United States Ambassador to the European Union, responds to Taylor, saying, "Bill, I believe you are incorrect about President Trump’s intentions. The President has...

Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told reporters during a break in Ambassador Kurt Volker’s testimony has been very impressive. And that his testimony conflicts with the accusations of Democrat leaders on Ukraine. Rep. Jim Jordan: Ambassador Volker has been very impressive and as I said, has said NOTHING, nothing that coincides with what Democrats are saying with their whole impeachment narrative.

(CNN) Former US Special Envoy for Ukraine Kurt Volker plans to appear at his deposition next Thursday in front of three congressional committees, according to a source familiar with his plans. The source would not say if the White House is seeking to use executive privilege to constrict Volker in terms of what he can say or provide.

"Before the breathin' air is gone...." "Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time" The song with those lyrics by Three Dog Night "A Walk In The Country" moving up the Top 40 chart 49 years ago today. I was young back then with fear of nuclear catastrophe being put into me among other things but also the fear of environmental catastrophe.... Fear when I was young expressed into the cassette recorder microphone. It of course reminds me of Greta Thunberg's rage this week: "You stole my childhood" Wow! I was young, I was bullied and sexually...

WASHINGTON — Kurt Volker, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO caught in the middle of a whistleblower complaint over the President Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine, resigned Friday from his post as special envoy to the Eastern European nation, according to a U.S. official. The official said Volker told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday of his decision to leave the job, following disclosures that he had connected Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani with Ukrainian officials to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his family over allegedly corrupt business dealings. Giuliani has said he was in frequent contact...

Volker’s resignation was first reported by The State Press, the student newspaper of Arizona State University, where Volker serves as executive director of the school’s McCain Institute.

Three sources confirm to CNN that Kurt Volker has resigned from his State Department post. First broken by the State Press, Arizona State University’s school paper:

The House Committee on Foreign Affairs subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for documents related to President Trump’s interactions with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a report. The subpoena, according to Politico, demands that Pompeo provide those documents by October 4.The committee also plans to depose five State Department officials, including Kurt Volker, the administration’s special envoy to Ukraine, who reportedly arranged for Rudy Giuliani to meet with high-level Ukrainian officials. The committee also wants to meet with Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump removed as U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman...