Lawyer For Ex-NSC Aide: Sondland ‘Fabricated Communications’ During House Testimony

Gordon Sondland — the ambassador who has already had to amend his impeachment testimony once — was accused of fabricating a separate episode in his testimony Wednesday by another witness in the Ukraine inquiry.

A lawyer for former National Security Council aide Fiona Hill said on Twitter that Sondland had “fabricated” the details of an encounter with Hill he described in his closed-door October deposition. The transcript of the deposition was released Tuesday.

Sondland has fabricated communications with Dr. Hill, none of which were over coffee. Dr. Hill told Sondland what she told lawmakers — the lack of coordination on Ukraine was distastorous, and the circumstances of the dismissal of Amb Yovanovitch shameful.

— Lee Wolosky (@LeeWolosky) November 6, 2019

Sondland claimed that he stopped by Hill’s office a few days before she was set to leave the White House and that she was “pretty upset about her role in the administration, about her superiors, about the President.”

They sat and had coffee, Sondland claimed, and Hill was “shaking” and “pretty mad.”

He said the “emotional” conversation lasted 15 or 20 minutes, and that Hill was “railing” against the President and National Security Advisor John Bolton.

Sondland, who was appointed ambassador to the European Union by President Trump after donating $1 million to his inauguration, amended his testimony this week to admit that he had communicated to several people, including a top Ukrainian official, that he believed a freeze on U.S. military assistance to Ukraine was tied to Trump’s demands that Ukraine investigate his political rivals.

Before Sondland appeared for his October deposition, Hill told investigators that she worried his diplomatic inexperience and reckless approach to the role presented a national security risk. She also testified that a July 10 White House meeting with Sondland and Ukrainian officials was cut short by Bolton because Sondland brought up the investigation demands. Sondland in his testimony denied that the meeting went sour.