gordon sondland testified in the deposition to one thing, and then he claimed to have an improvementust excerpted there, admitting openly there was a quid pro quo. apparently, it sounds from this pleading, that secretary pompeo was willing to reimburse his legal fees when he stuck to the line he gave in the deposition. but when he testified during the open hearings and basically said everybody was in the loop and showed emails and other messages to pompeo showing that pompeo was in on this scheme, apparently that and his unwillingness to resign after the trial led to pompeo saying, i'm not going to reimburse your fees anymore. you know, the litigation, i guess, will depend on what the basis is for their failure to reimburse him. if they claim that sondland was acting on his own, that he was some free radical, then sondland might be able to get discovery to show that, no, he was actually working with rudy giuliani, who was working with mike pompeo, and they were all in the loop. so it's possible he could get discovery about what pompeo was involved in, what he knew, and giuliani, but

gordon sondland was prominent among them.n when he was part of what his documents call a highly charged testimony in front of congress, that he incured considerable expenses. sondland says he was given assurances by secretary of state pompeo that his costs would be covered. his legal bills total $1.8 million and the government renigged on that promise. he was ultimately fired by the administration after then president trump was acquitted by the senate, but he was one of the lynch pin characters in that drama talking about his conversations, his understanding of the military component with ukraine. his quid pro quo that became so much part of the impeachment drama. he says his testimony was candid. it was ultimately viewed by many as not for president trump. he was a donor, a prominent figure that was likely one of those people that the fates brought him into this and now he is bringing it back saying mike pompeo needs to be held accountable for this. this will go to court and take gordon sondland back to another kind of hot s

why is gordon sondland suing? >> you're right. he's a former trump administration official who said the u.s. told ukraine that the u.s. would resume military aid to ukraine if ukraine would launch an investigation of an energy company which included hunter biden on its board of directors. in the new lawsuit says he had no choice to testify because he was served with a subpoena. government lawyers would not represent him, but he says the man who was secretary of state at the time mike pompeo and other senior officials told him at least four times that the government would reimburse him for the full cost he incurred when hiring lawyers on his own. that changed when fired by trump and pompeo. the government reimbursed him $86,000 and his legal fees are more than 20 times that, $1.8 million. he has a couple of claims. first of all, pompeo's repeated promises amount to a legally binding contract which the government must honor, but he says, if pompeo did not have the authority as secretary of state to make that commitment then pompeo i

gordon sondland testified the deposition to one thing and then he claimed to have an improvement of recollectionu just accepted they're hoping there was a pretty pro quo. apparently it sounds misleading that secretary pompeo was willing to reimburse his legal fees when he stuck to the lighting aim in the deposition. but when he testified during the open hearings again, basically said everyone was in the loop and showed emails and other messages to pompeo showing that pompeo woods apparently his unwillingness to and the trial he said he wasn't going to reimburse us fees anymore. the litigation i guess will depend on what's basis for the failure to reimburse and. i think if they claim he was acting on his own, but he was some free radical than he might be able to discover. he was actually working with mike pompeo and they were all in the loop. so it's possible that you get discovery with what pompeo was involved in what he knew and giuliani. my guess is he just wants to get paid and he's looking for a settlement or he can get some money out of it. >> the pompeo angle here exposes him to a big subp

gordon sondland's testimony was important because he was someone inside the administration.at the administration was doing. he was part of this effort, and again, this related to the second impeachment regarding the ukraine issues. but i don't think that this suit in the long term, will be successful either against the government or against the former secretary of state but it certainly could be irritating. >> if they agree to pay for it, i think it's fair to say the trump administration officials were expecting something different than they got from the ambassador during his testimony. carrie, great to see you. >> nice to be with you. >>> the clock is ticking, and hope is fading fast for a bipartisan deal on infrastructure. so we're going to speak with the key negotiator on that next. >>> plus, is it getting easier to carry a gun in some states? easier than it is to say vote? the controversial new bill that is on the verge of becoming law in texas. another day, another chance. it could be the day you break the sales record, or the day there's appointments nonstop. with comc

and former ambassador to the european union, gordon sondland you may remember from all of this, is seeingd former secretary of state mike pompeo. sondland is asking for $1.8 million in legal fees he accrued during the first impeachment of president trump. pompeo failed to follow through on a legally binding promise in which the federal government would reimburse sondland for the legal fees he incurred during the 2019 house impeachment investigation against trump. but as the suit alleged, once pompeo learned of sondland's testimony, which the former ambassador's lawyers described as entirely candid and truthful about trump's quid pro quo, the ukrainian leader, pompeo reanythinged on his promise. a spokesman for pompeo called the lawsuit ludicrous and confident the court will agree. we'll see. >>> still ahead here. we'll take a look at where things stand after two republicans express possible support for the legislation. >>> but, before we go to break, we want to know why are you awake? email us your reasons for being up and watching to way too early at msnbc.com or drop me a tweet and we'l

ambassador gordon sondland. lies of pressuring ukraine to investigate then presidential candidate joe biden and his son, hunter, before they would release that foreign aid. sondland is now suing mike pompeo and the federal government for $1.8 million in legal fees from that probe, alleging that pompeo reneged on his promise to cover all of sondland's legal fees after sondland flipped on trump and delivered that damaging testimony on what he knew about a quid pro quo between trump and ukraine. a spokesman for pompeo tells nbc news, the lawsuit is ludicrous. the department of justice has not commented on the lawsuit. joining us is michael schmidt, "new york times" washington correspondent and an msnbc national security contributor. the lawsuit makes clear this is about a promise pompeo made. let me read a little bit from it. it says if pompeo did not have the authority to bind the government, pompeo went rogue and acted outside the course and scope of his employment and duties, making a promise in his personal capa