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The three committees in the U.S. House of Representatives pursuing an impeachment inquiry today sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seeking to take the deposition of Gordon Sondland, the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union.
That letter was first reported by Politico.
Sondland, who, prior to taking his ambassadorship led the company Provenance Hotels, which owns or operates six hotels in Portland, was named in the whistleblower complaint about President Donald Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The whistleblower has raised questions about whether Trump sought to convince Zelensky to investigate Hunter Biden, the son of former Vice President Joe Biden, in exchange for the release of U.S. financial aid.
In the nine-page complaint released earlier this week, the whistleblower alleged that Sondland was part of an effort to "contain the damage" done by Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, in his efforts to push the Ukrainians toward a Biden investigation. The whistle-blower also said Sondland personally visited Ukraine after the July 25 phone call to follow up.
There's no allegation in the complaint that Sondland did anything wrong in either instance, but his involvement in the matter made it likely that Congressional committees would want to hear from him. Now, according to the letter sent today by the chairs of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight Committees, they hope to depose Sondland on Oct. 10.
A representative for Sondland previously told WW he will have no comment on the Ukraine matter. All such communication is being handled by the White House, which continues to deny any wrongdoing.