PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer has urged anyone "who cares about America" to steer clear of hotels run by Gordon Sondland's Provenance Hotels.
In a tweet today, the Portland Democrat said people should avoid patronizing Sondland's businesses until Sondland, the founder of Provenance and the current U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, testifies in the current impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.
"No one who cares about America should do any business or stay at any of Gordon Sondland's hotels until he fulfills his duty as a citizen to testify & turn over all relevant documents to the House," Blumenauer tweeted.
He went a step further and shared a link to the Provenance website and a list of its hotels.
Provenance owns or operates six hotels in Portland and three in Washington.
- Hotel Lucia, Portland
- Hotel deLuxe, Portland
- The Heathman Hotel, Portland
- Woodlark, Portland
- Dossier, Portland
- Sentinel, Portland
- Hotel Theodore, Seattle
- Hotel Max, Seattle
- Hotel Murano, Tacoma
Provenance also owns or operates hotels in California, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Blumenauer's tweet is just the latest fallout from Sondland's role in the communications between President Trump and Ukraine in which the president may have pushed for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration and was appointed ambassador in the following months, was set to testify before three House committees on the matter yesterday. At the last minute, however, the Trump administration blocked him from testifying, a move that was likely to push Democrats to subpoena Sondland.
Blumenauer said the boycott is intended to send a message that Sondland should comply with Congress.
"What I would like is to get Gordon's attention," Blumenauer told KGW. "And for the public to understand that there are things they can do. People need to dial down on how serious a threat this is to the democracy."
Jim McDermott, Sondland's personal attorney, released the following statement on Wednesday:
In Response to Congressman Blumenauer’s Call for a Boycott of Provenance Hotels October 9, 2019 Congressman Blumenauer’s irresponsible attempt to hurt a homegrown business that supports hundreds of jobs in our local economy is just shameful and ought to outrage all Oregonians.
I am one of the lawyers representing Ambassador Gordon Sondland, who founded Provenance Hotels but has not been a company executive since he became US Ambassador to the European Union in early July 2018.
Ambassador Sondland has requested that the Department of State allow him to testify as soon as possible. Precisely because no one is above the law, Ambassador Sondland has turned over all relevant documents sought by Congress to the Department of State, as the Federal Records Act requires. It is for the Department of State, not Ambassador Sondland, to produce these records to the Committees of the House. The Federal Records Act prohibits federal employees such as Ambassador Sondland from sharing or disclosing documents concerning their official business.
Congressman Blumenauer would do well to learn and understand the laws that Congress has passed before he makes reckless and destructive threats that would only economically injure hardworking Oregon employees.
Ellen Carmichael, spokesperson for Provenance Hotels, released the following statement:
We are saddened to have our Congressman Earl Blumenauer call for a boycott that would put the livelihoods of thousands of his own constituents in peril. This attack on our employees is unwarranted.
To be clear, Ambassador Sondland ceased being an executive with our company well over a year ago when he was appointed to public service. Boycotting our hotels has no impact on what is happening on the national political stage.
We trust Congressman Blumenauer, with his years of experience as elected official, well knows that a boycott like this is purely political maneuver that hurts people. In this case, his fellow Oregonians. We’re a company that puts people first – we ask that our elected representatives do the same.