U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland will now appear before the House committees probing impeachment next week, his attorney said on Friday morning.
He will, of course, sit there and state that “he would love to answer that question, but he has been instructed by his superiors that the answer would be subject to privilege and he must defer.”
Sorry to be cynical, but I predict that this will be a sham.
According to Morning Joe, Republicans in the House are pushing WH/Trump/Pompeo to let Sondland testify because they claim that CYA text (president is clear, there is no quid pro quo) proves Trump did nothing wrong.
Yes because a cover up planned by Trump, Sondland and WH Lawyers is not in play at all…we’re all so stupid to not see that Trump was on the up and up all along…even when all the facts show otherwise 
Lotsa time between now and the 17th for Pompeo to reassert his authority. Or resign. Really, I’d be fine with resign, but appearing impotent is ok as a distant second choice.
I wouldn’t take testimony without the documents. You are going to want to ask him about the content of those documents and if he testifies first, he will refuse to come back once ordered to produce the documents – and he will be ordered to produce the documents.
He seems like one of these self-important conservative rich assholes who thinks they’re better and smarter than anyone else, and he wants to testify because he is going to show those Dems on the Hill a thing or two!
I have a feeling this mofo is going down.
Yeah, no docs that would demonstrate he’s lying through his teeth.
Although he should be careful: somebody somewhere is gonna slip those docs into the public sphere and then he’s wearing orange for perjury.
OT but will send Spankee around the bend. This year’s Nobel Peace Prize goes to a person of color whose name seems to indicate that he’s also Muslim. Tweetstorm momentarily…
Sondlands’s WhatsApp account is not official government property. The Department of State should not have any objection to Sondland turning that over to the Congressional investigation.
Because, everyone learned their lesson from the Hillary private server saga and knows unequivocally that they’re not permitted to conduct official US government business outside of the established communications channels, right?
Gotta be that “deep state” at work once again. What would have been an even nice hit with shit storm to follow was if Greta had won or shared the Nobel. Actually thinking about it a share would have given us a two fer.
Lots of balconies to accidentally fall from and self-inflicted heart attacks to suffer in a week’s time.
Nice polonium-free stomach ya got there…
I’ll believe it when I see that stooge walking through the door.
Sad pathetic man, and even sader the folks in there nodding their heads at every stupid claim.
IANAL, but I saw this the opposite way.
He can still testify about what’s in them and the committee can still seek the documents. He need not be called back to answer questions about them unless, after having gotten them, they show that he lied.
Sondland has a private hotel real estate business to protect. He can see the writing on the crumbling Trump wall.
Totally agree with you and jakebarnes on this one. Too much time for him to huddle with the boys and practice deflection, then claim he’s done everything asked of him. I hope Schiff and Pelosi don’t take the niblets he’s willing to hand out and demand everything, and have the patience and guts to wait it out.
Sorry Sondland, you had your one chance to do what is right. Now, your just a co-conspirator.
In related news:
Count me not among those who see this as another dimension in the multidimensional chess of sneaky Republican trickeration. I think it’s much more straightforward: Sondland does not want to go down with the ship.
At this point it seems clear that nothing at all good can happen for Team Trump from any of his clowns testifying before Congress.
Take a number and get in line for the witness stand.