The US ambassador to the European Union is expected to tell House lawmakers conducting an impeachment inquiry that he was merely repeating President Donald Trump's reassurances when he told another envoy that there was no quid pro quo in the administration's dealings with Ukraine. Gordon Sondland, scheduled to appear Thursday, would be the latest in a series of witnesses to be interviewed behind closed doors by House lawmakers.
Trump blocked his appearance last week, but Democrats promptly subpoenaed Sondland.
His appearance is especially anticipated since text messages and other witness testimony place him at the center of a foreign policy dialogue with Ukraine that forms the basis of the impeachment inquiry and that officials feared circumvented normal channels.
Part of that effort involved pushing the former Soviet republic to commit to politically charged investigations sought by Trump, including into a gas company connected to the son of Democratic rival Joe Biden.