The State Dept. Tuesday morning banned U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, hotel tycoon Gordon Sondland, from a scheduled deposition before House investigators working on a Trump impeachment inquiry – about one hour before he was slated to appear.
Ambassador Sondland, who has become a central figure in the text messages revealed this weekend that illustrate Trump’s extortion of Ukraine in a military aid for political dirt scandal.
Sondland in 2016 reportedly “covertly steered” $1 million to the Trump inaugural committee while insisting to hos own supporters and hotel patrons in the Pacific Northwest he was not a Trump supporter.
Tuesday morning Sondland’s attorney said he has no choice but to comply with the White House blocking his deposition, CNN reports.
“He is a sitting ambassador and employee of State and is required to follow their direction,” Sondland’s lawyer Robert Luskin said.
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