Former President Donald Trump's ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, is suing former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. government for $1.8 million to compensate for legal fees incurred during the 2019 House impeachment probe.
The suit, filed Monday in federal court in the District of Columbia, alleges that Pompeo reneged on his promise that the State Department would cover the fees after Sondland delivered testimony accusing Trump and his aides of pressuring the government of Ukraine to investigate then presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter in exchange for military aid.
Sondland, a Portland, Ore., hotel magnate appointed by Trump to serve as ambassador, became a key witness of the impeachment probe because of his firsthand knowledge of conversations with Trump, his attorney Rudy Giuliani and senior Ukrainian officials.
The allegations in the suit also offer new details on Sondland's rapid devolution from Trump insider to political outcast in the span of days.
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The complaint alleges that Pompeo told Sondland that government lawyers would not be made available to represent him but that if he hired his own counsel, his attorney fees would be covered by the U.S. government. Top aides to Pompeo also acknowledged this commitment, the suit alleges, but "everything changed" after Sondland delivered his testimony alleging a "quid pro quo" and then refused to resign despite a request from one of Pompeo's most trusted aides, Ulrich Brechbuhl.
"Ambassador Sondland confirmed he would not resign because he did not do anything improper. After that, everything changed. Ambassador Sondland did not receive his attorneys' fees, notwithstanding the promises from the State Department that the attorneys' fees would be paid," the suit alleges.
Sondland is demanding that the U.S. government cover the fees or Pompeo pay out of his own pocket. The suit argues that Pompeo's actions as secretary of state should not be subject to governmental immunity because the promise "was self-serving, made entirely for personal reasons for his own political survival in the hopes that Ambassador Sondland would not implicate him or others by his testimony."
Sondland's falling out with the Trump administration over the legal fees, as described in the suit, coincided with a public falling out during the impeachment hearings.
Initially, Sondland said he had no knowledge of a quid pro quo between the Trump administration and Ukraine. He later revised his testimony and acknowledged that he, in fact, played a role in implementing it.
"Was there a quid pro quo?" Sondland said during his testimony. "With regard to the requested White House call and White House meeting, the answer is yes."
"Everyone was in the loop," he said. "It was no secret."
Trump distanced himself from Sondland after the testimony, telling reporters "I hardly know the gentleman."
The suit alleges that Sondland's legal bills were so high in part because the Trump administration restricted "access to materials essential to his preparation," which forced the legal team to "reconstruct" dates and itineraries and accounts necessary for his testimony.
The State Department paid Sondland $86,040 for his legal fees, which the suit says falls far short of Pompeo's promise of "full reimbursement."
Trump fired Sondland on Feb. 7, 2020, two days after the president was acquitted of two impeachment charges in the Senate.
Information for this article was contributed by Ashley Parker of The Washington Post.