Trump impeachment: Ambassador named in Ukraine whistleblower complaint agrees to testify to Congress
Official defies Trump administration after testimony blocked by State Department this week
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Your support makes all the difference.The US ambassador who was named as a key figure in the Ukraine whistleblower complaint has defied the Trump administration by agreeing to testify to Congress.
Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU, will appear before committees on 17 October, despite having been ordered not to testify by the State Department.
Recently released text messages suggest Mr Sondland played a role in pushing Ukraine to investigate Donald Trump’s 2020 election rival Joe Biden.
In a discussion between Mr Sondland and Bill Taylor, a top US diplomat to Ukraine, the ambassador defended the president by saying there was “no quid pro quo” in the withholding of military assistance to Ukraine.
Mr Trump appeared to reject the idea of Mr Sondland testifying earlier this week, when he accused a congressional committee of being a “kangaroo court”.
Mr Sondland’s attorneys, Robert Luskin and Kwame Manley, have said the ambassador has no agenda apart from answering questions “fully and truthfully.”
“Notwithstanding the State Department’s current direction to not testify, Ambassador Sondland will honour the Committees’ subpoena, and he looks forward to testifying on Thursday,” Mr Luskin and Mr Manley said in a statement.
However, his lawyers said he would not be bringing documents requested by Congress with him because the State Department has sole authority to produce them.
“Ambassador Sondland does not control the disposition of his documents,” the lawyers said.
They added that Mr Sondland hopes those documents will be shared with the committees before his testimony.
The State Department directed the ambassador not to appear for a previously scheduled voluntary deposition on Tuesday, forcing the joint House committee to issue a subpoena for his testimony on Wednesday.
Mr Sondland is a hotelier who became the EU ambassador, despite having no diplomatic experience, after donating $1m to Mr Trump’s inauguration committee.
The Trump administration has said it does not intend to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry led by Democrats in Congress and called the investigation “constitutionally invalid”.
Three congressional committees hope to hear testimony from four witnesses next week, according to CNN, including Fiona Hill, Mr Trump’s former top Russia adviser.
Agencies contributed to this report
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