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Gordon Sondland, former President Donald Trump's ambassador to the European Union, filed a federal lawsuit againstformer Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday for nearly $2 million, the Associated Press reported.
Sondland testified in Trump's 2019 impeachment trial, and his lawsuit asserts that Pompeo promised to reimburse him for $1.8 million worth of legal fees that Sondland accrued. Sondland alleges Pompeo "reneged on his promise" after hearing his testimony.
"With the contractual commitment of Pompeo having been abandoned apparently for political convenience, Ambassador Sondland turns to this Court to reimburse his attorneys' fees and costs and make him whole," Mark Barondess, Sondland's lawyer, said in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was called "ludicrous" by a Pompeo spokesperson who added that Pompeo believes the court will agree.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Sondland alleges that Pompeo had committed to reimburse his legal expenses after he was subpoenaed by House Democrats to testify in an impeachment case that accused Trump of withholding military aid from Ukraine while demanding an investigation into political rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
In testimony that Sondland's lawsuit describes as "highly fraught, highly charged and highly risky with tremendous consequences," he described for investigators how Trump and his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, explicitly sought a "quid pro quo" with Ukraine, leveraging an Oval Office visit for political investigations of Democrats.
Trump was impeached by the House but acquitted in February 2020 by the Senate.
Sondland was fired days after Trump's acquittal "simply for telling the truth," according to the lawsuit. He says the unwillingness to cover his legal fees not only represented a breach of commitment and "normal convention" but was also "especially problematic in this instance because the amount of preparation needed to comply with the subpoenas was staggering."
"Ambassador Sondland retained a Washington, D.C. law firm well experienced in Congressional investigations that possessed the capacity to assist him, along with his long-time personal counsel, in preparation for his critically important testimony," the lawsuit states. "Ambassador Sondland continued to rely on Pompeo's individual promise, on behalf of himself and the Government, in seeking outside counsel and incurred nearly $1.8 million in attorneys' fees and costs."
The lawsuit was first reported by The Washington Post.
