By Susan Heavey and Karen Freifeld
WASHINGTON, May 24 (Reuters) – Gordon Sondland, the former U.S. ambassador who testified against President Donald Trump during his first impeachment trial, sued former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the federal government on Monday for $ 1.8 million in court costs.
Sondland, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, accused Pompeo of failing to cover his legal expenses as promised after the ambassador informed lawmakers of Trump’s interactions with Ukraine in 2019, ahead of the US presidential election. 2020.
Sondland, who had served as the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, said in the lawsuit that he was fired on February 7, 2020, after appearing before a House panel on October 17 and November 20, 2019, by “simply telling the truth.”
“With all the troubles suffered, Ambassador Sondland has come to realize that testifying sincerely and frankly before Congress while the cameras are filming was in fact an offense punishable by dismissal at the Pompeo State Department,” the lawsuit says. .
A Pompeo spokesman called the lawsuit “ridiculous.”
“Mr. Pompeo is confident that the court will see him the same way,” the spokesman said in an emailed comment.
In the lawsuit, Sondland said he was told in 2019 that he would not be provided with government attorneys, but that Pompeo “assured” him that “the State Department would reimburse him for all his legal costs” when House lawmakers requested and initially your testimony.
The US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and Humeyra Pamuk and Sarah Lynch in Washington; written by Susan Heavey; translated by Aida Peláez at the Gdansk newsroom)
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