On November 4, Ambassador Sondland's personal attorney transmitted to the Committees a sworn declaration from Ambassador Sondland, which supplemented his deposition testimony and noted that despite "repeated requests to the White House and the State Department," he still had not been granted access to records he sought to review to determine if he could "provide more complete testimony to assist Congress."309
On November 20, the Committees transmitted a subpoena to Ambassador Sondland compelling him to testify at a public hearing of the Intelligence Committee that same day.310 Ambassador Sondland complied with the Committees' subpoena and testified at the public hearing. During the hearing, Ambassador Sondland described the direction he received from the White House:
| Q: | Ambassador Sondland, in your deposition, you lamented, quote: I was truly disappointed that the State Department prevented me at the last minute from testifying earlier on October 8, 2019, but your issuance of a subpoena has supported my appearance here today, and I am pleased to provide the following testimony. So it is clear that the White House, the State Department did not want you to testify at that deposition. Is that correct? |
| A: | That is correct. |
| Q: | And since then, you have on numerous occasions during your opening statement today indicated that you have not been able to access documents in the State Department. Is that correct? |
| A: | Correct. |
| Q: | So you have been hampered in your ability to provide testimony to this committee. Is that correct? |
| A: | I have been hampered to provide completely accurate testimony without the benefit of those documents.311 |
George P. Kent, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State,
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, Department of State
On September 13, 2019, the Committees sent a letter to Secretary of State Pompeo seeking a transcribed interview with Deputy Assistant Secretary of State George Kent and other State Department officials.312 The Committees received no direct, substantive response to this letter.
On September 27, the Committees sent a letter informing Secretary Pompeo that Mr. Kent's deposition was being scheduled on October 7.313 That same day, the Committees sent a letter directly to Mr. Kent seeking his appearance at the deposition on that date.314 Later that day, Mr. Kent sent an email to Committee staff acknowledging receipt of the Committees' request and copying an official from the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Department of State.315 On October 1, Secretary Pompeo sent a letter to the Committees stating that Mr. Kent "may not attend" the deposition.316
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