Gordon Sondland, who served as the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, issued a statement late Friday saying that President Donald Trump is set to recall him from the role.
“I am grateful to President Trump for having given me the opportunity to serve, to Secretary Pompeo for his consistent support, and to the exceptional and dedicated professionals at the U.S. Mission to the European Union,” he added. “I am proud of our accomplishments. Our work here has been the highlight of my career.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the White House and the State Department for comment.
Both Vindman and Sondland testified in the Democrat-led House of Representatives’ impeachment inquiry against President Trump.
The Democrat-led House voted along party lines to impeach Trump on Dec. 18 after an impeachment inquiry that lasted for months. House Democrats who sought Trump’s impeachment claimed that the president withheld millions of dollars to Ukraine in exchange for investigations.
But Sondland also said at the hearing that “we all understood” that a meeting at the White House for Ukraine’s president was conditioned on an investigation or a statement announcing investigations.
“Everyone was in the loop,” Sondland said at the hearing. “It was no secret.” He added, “Was there a ‘quid pro quo? The answer is yes.”
Sondland also said that he received no direct orders or much communication from Trump himself but that he was acting on behalf of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney. Giuliani denied that assertion.
Trump, Ukrainian officials, and other White House officials at the time categorically denied the allegations of bribery and quid pro quo.
When Republican lawmakers pressed Sondland at the November hearing, he admitted that no one had told him about investigations and relied only on presumptions that he had made.
