The House committees leading the impeachment inquiry released the transcript of an interview with Kurt Volker, the former special envoy to Ukraine who was a central figure in efforts to pressure the Ukrainian government to open investigations into President Trump's political rivals.

In his opening statement during closed-door testimony on October 3, Volker told lawmakers he was "never asked to do anything" he thought was wrong, "including by the president," but expressed concerns that the U.S. relationship with Ukraine was "getting sucked into a domestic political debate."

Volker said he raised concerns with "a number of people" from May to August 2019 about the role played in U.S.-Ukraine relations by Rudy Giuliani, the president's personal lawyer, and that he had never seen someone in a position like Giuliani's play a similar part in U.S. foreign relations.