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US Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland is scheduled to testify before three House committees on Tuesday, two congressional sources tell CNN.
Sondland is expected to attend, one of the sources said.
He had originally been scheduled for later next week.
What we know about Sondland: The ambassador is mentioned in a series of text messages between US diplomats and a Ukrainian aide. The messages, which were released last night, show how a potential Ukrainian investigation into the 2016 election was linked to a desired meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Trump.
In one exchange, Sondland seemed to downplay the concerns raised by his counterpart in Kiev.
“Gordon, one thing Kurt and I talked about yesterday was Sasha Danyliuk’s point that President Zelenskyy is sensitive about Ukraine being taken seriously, not merely as an instrument in Washington domestic, reelection politics,” Ambassador William “Bill” Taylor, the charge d’affaires at the US Embassy in Kiev, wrote on July 21.
Sondland replied, “Absolutely, but we need to get the conversation started and the relationship built, irrespective of the pretext.”
On September 1, Taylor raised a question about the conditions upon which the aid was stalled and a White House visit by Zelensky would be predicated.
“Are we now saying that security assistance and WH meeting conditioned on investigations?” Taylor asked.
“Call me,” Sondland replied.
Sondland has been the ambassador to the European Union since late June 2018.
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