Kurt Volker
Kurt Volker | |
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Ivo Daalder | |
Personal details | |
Born | Kurt Douglas Volker December 27, 1964 Hatboro, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Spouses | Karen Volker (divorced)Ia Meurmishvili (m. 2019) |
Education | Temple University (BA) George Washington University (MA) |
Kurt Douglas Volker
Background
Kurt Volker was born in 1964 in
Career
Public service
After a short tenure as a
Volker served as a legislative fellow on the staff of Senator John McCain from 1997 to 1998. In 1998, he became first secretary of the US mission to NATO, and in 1999 he was sent to deputy director of NATO Secretary-General George Robertson's private office, serving in that position until 2001.[10]
He then became acting director for European and Eurasian Affairs for the
Private sector
Volker went into the private sector in 2009, becoming an independent director at The Wall Street Fund Inc,[11] where he worked until 2012. He was a member of the board of directors at Capital Guardian Funds Trust[12] beginning in 2013.[13] Volker was also an independent director at Evercore Wealth Management Macro Opportunity Fund until 2012.[14]
Volker served as a senior advisor at McLarty Associates, a global consulting firm from 2010 to 2011.
In 2011, he joined
He then became executive director of Arizona State University's McCain Institute for International Leadership[16] when it was launched[17] in 2012. He resigned in 2019.[18]
He has been a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies since September 2009, and a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council since October 2009. Volker is currently listed as a trustee at the CG Funds Trust,[19] and a member of the board of trustees at The American College of the Mediterranean (ACM), an American-style degree-granting institution in Aix-en-Provence, France. As an undergraduate, he was enrolled at ACM's study abroad institute, IAU College. He is also a member of the board of directors at The Hungary Initiatives Foundation.[20] In addition, Volker is a member of the Atlantic Partnership.[21]
Ukrainian media reported in June 2021 that Kurt Volker represents US investors that co-founded American University Kyiv in partnership with Arizona State University.[22]
Special Representative for Ukraine
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Volker_interview.jpg/220px-Volker_interview.jpg)
On July 7, 2017, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson appointed Ambassador Kurt Volker as the US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations.[23][24] Volker accompanied Tillerson on his trip to Ukraine two days later. On September 27, 2019, Volker resigned from this official, yet volunteer, position.[4][25]
Trump–Ukraine
Trump–Ukraine scandal |
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Events |
People |
Companies |
Conspiracy theories |
In mid-September 2019, reports began to surface suggesting that a
On September 26, 2019, the
That same day Trump's personal attorney
NBC News has reported, in regard to the Volker text that Giuliani allegedly received, "Whether Volker was acting on orders from Trump is unclear, and the State Department hasn't said why Volker made the introduction, other than that the Ukrainian aide requested it. But the introduction ultimately led to a meeting between Yermak and Giuliani in Spain that the whistleblower wrote was a 'direct follow-up' to Trump's call."[24]
In the White House memorandum of the July 25 telephone call between the two presidents, President Zelensky is quoted as saying, "I will personally tell you that one of my assistants spoke with Mr. Giuliani just recently and we are hoping very much that Mr. Giuliani will be able to travel to Ukraine and we will meet once he comes to Ukraine."[35] Notably, the date on the screenshot of the purported text message from Volker to Giuliani is July 19, six days earlier.[34]
On September 27, 2019, Volker resigned hours after congressional Democrats announced he would be called to provide a deposition.[4][36]
Volker was interviewed in a closed session of the House committees leading the Trump impeachment inquiry on October 3, 2019, and his prepared statement was made public on October 4, 2019.[37] The Washington Post reported that he asserted he had warned Giuliani that he (Giulani) was receiving untrustworthy information about the Bidens from Ukrainian political figures.[38][39][40][41]
External videos | |
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On November 19, 2019, Volker testified before the U.S. House of Representatives during a public hearing, during which he corrected or reversed statements made in his closed hearing, regarding mention of investigations, stating instead that Sondland "made a generic comment about investigations," which Volker and others found "inappropriate."[42][43] He had previously said that he was not aware of any link between investigations and a White House visit.[44] On November 21, 2019, David Holmes, who serves as head of political affairs in the US Embassy in Ukraine, described Volker, as well as Sondland and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry as "The Three Amigos" who ran the Ukraine campaign with Trump and Giulani.[45][46][47][48]
Personal life
In June 2019, Volker married Georgian journalist for Voice of America Ia Meurmishvili.[49] He was previously married to Karen Volker, with whom he had two sons. He speaks English, Hungarian, Swedish, and French. [citation needed]
References
- ^ "PN1179 — Kurt Douglas Volker — Department of State". U.S. Congress. April 29, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- The Washington Examiner. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Howard, Andrew (September 27, 2019). "McCain Institute head Kurt Volker steps down as US diplomat". The State Press. Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-16-083589-6.
- ^ "Descendants of John MacAuley Abbott, Sr". Archived from the original on April 23, 2017.
- ^ "GW Magazine". www2.gwu.edu. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ DeYoung, Karen; Gearan, Anne (September 28, 2019). "Kurt Volker, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine, resigns". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ "Kurt Volker Set to Testify in Inquiry of Trump's Ukraine Dealings". Voice of America. October 2, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c "Kurt Volker: Ambassador, United States Permanent Representative". US Mission to Nato.
- ^ "wllst_def14a.htm". www.sec.gov.
- ^ "Capitalguardianllc.com". capitalguardianllc.com.
- ^ "cgft_n1aa.htm". www.sec.gov.
- ^ "wallstewm_497e.htm". www.sec.gov.
- ^ "BGR Group | Washington DC | BGR Team Bio: Ambassador Kurt Volker". bgrdc.com. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
- ^ "Kurt Volker". McCain Institute for International Leadership at Arizona State University. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ Clemons, Steve (May 23, 2012). "John McCain's Institute Launches Today". The Atlantic.
- ^ "REPORT: Kurt Volker resigns from ASU's McCain Institute". KNXV. October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
- ^ "CG Fund". www.cgfundstrust.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2017.
- ^ "Ambassador Kurt Volker". Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ "AP People – Atlantic Partnership". Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ "An American University Will Open in the Former Building of Kyiv City River Port". Retrieved June 26, 2021.
- ^ "Press Releases - United States Department of State". State.gov. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ a b Lederman, Josh; Welker, Kristen (September 26, 2019). "Whistleblower says U.S. envoy scrambled to contain Giuliani's damage to national security". NBC News. New York, NY. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
Volker, by law, can only spend about one-third of his time working for the U.S. government, owing to his status as a "Special Government Employee." That category, designed to enable private sector workers with particular expertise to serve the government temporarily, limits Volker to no more than 130 days out of any 365-day period spent on his Ukraine envoy duties.
- ^ Herszenhorn, David (September 28, 2019). "Conflict of interest questions add to scrutiny of Trump's Ukraine envoy". Politico. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ Margaret Taylor (September 17, 2019). "The Mysterious Whistleblower Complaint: What Is Adam Schiff Talking About?". Lawfare. Washington DC.
- ^ "Zelensky defends relationship with US after Trump accused of pushing Ukraine to meddle in 2020 election". The Independent. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Kyiv, U. S. Embassy (July 26, 2019). ".@SpecRepUkraine Volker and @USAmbEU Gordon Sondland met with President @ZelenskyyUa to discuss U.S.-Ukraine cooperation and to express unwavering U.S. support for Ukraine's democracy, security, and prosperity.pic.twitter.com/YvCy0Net7e". @USEmbassyKyiv. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 20, 2019.
- ^ Declassified Whistleblower Complaint (PDF) (Report). Washington DC: US House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. September 26, 2019. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 18, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ "Andrey Yermak, Producer". IMDb. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
Andrey Yermak is a Ukrainian film and TV Producer, International Law Expert, owner of the production company Garnet International Media Group (GIMG).
- ^ Hansen, Ronald J. "Giuliani says McCain Institute head Kurt Volker wanted him involved in Ukraine". azcentral.
- ^ a b Giuliani, Rudy. "Why does this text and date render the hearsay so-called whistleblower useless and not credible". Twitter. @RudyGiuliani. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
- ^ "Memorandum of Telephone Conversation with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine" (PDF). Washington Post. July 25, 2019. p. 4. Retrieved September 28, 2019.
- ^ Fandos, Nicholas; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (September 27, 2019). "House Democrats Issue First Subpoena in Impeachment Inquiry". The New York Times.
- ^ Kurt Volker (October 4, 2019). "Full Statement from U.S. Ukraine Envoy Ambassador Kurt Volker on October 3, 2019". Scribd. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ "Former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine testifies in impeachment inquiry". washingtonpost.com. October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
- ^ Fandos, Nicholas; Barnes, Julian E. (October 3, 2019). "Top Ukraine Diplomat Referenced 'Crazy' Plan to Withhold Aid for Political Gain". The New York Times.
- ^ "'Crazy to withhold security' aid to Ukraine for political campaign: Top US diplomat". ABC News.
- ^ "Volker provided evidence Giuliani ran 'shadow shakedown' in Ukraine, Democrat says". NBC News. October 4, 2019.
- ^ Relman, Eliza. "Kurt Volker completely reverses his previous impeachment testimony and now says he thought discussions about political investigations were 'inappropriate'". Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ Blake, Aaron (November 19, 2019). "7 takeaways from Tuesday's impeachment hearings". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ Ryan Teague Beckwith, Billy House (November 18, 2019). "Impeachment Probe Turns to Trump Ally at Heart of Ukraine Storm". Bloomberg. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
- ^ "WATCH: Witness David Holmes expresses concerns about Giuliani's role in Ukraine". PBS NewsHour. Associated Press. November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ "David Holmes made clear how pressure was applied to Ukraine — and how that pressure continues - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
- ^ "Who is David Holmes and why does his public testimony matter? - The Washington Post". The Washington Post.
- ^ "READ: David Holmes' opening remarks at impeachment hearing". Archived from the original on April 4, 2021. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ "Kurt Volker marries Georgian journalist Ia Meurmishvili". Georgian Journal. June 17, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Kurt Volker at the team of McCain Institute, biography