Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the EU and a key witness in the Trump impeachment Ukraine scandal faces sexual assault allegations by three women who came forward saying the diplomat made unwanted sexual advances on them in the pretext of business contexts.
Nicole Vogel, first accuser
The first accuser, Nicole Vogel, who is the owner of Portland Monthly says Gordon Sondland aggressively pulled her towards him and forcibly kissed her in 2003. She alleges that Sondland pulled his potential investment out of her business on purpose after she rejected his unruly and unwanted sexual advances. For the uninitiated, Sondland owns five hotels in Portland as a part of his company Provenance Hotel Group.
Jana Solis, second accuser
The second accuser, Jana Solis, who is a safety engineer at the insurance company Marsh & McLennan accused Sondland of groping and forcibly kissing her at separate occasions when she attempted to work with him in 2008. After her first meeting with Sondland, he hired her to work at one of his hotel and she stated that he slapped her in the butt and said a provocative word which demeaned her as a woman. Jana said Sondland ''Slapped me on the ass and said, 'I look forward to working with you','' she said to ProPublica.
In another occasion, Jana said that Sondland undressed himself ''from the waist down'' and jumped over her groping and forcibly kissing her. "The next thing I know, he's all over me. He's on top of me. He's kissing me, shoving his tongue down my throat. And I'm trying to wiggle out from under him, and the next thing you know, I'm sort of rising up to get away from him, and I fall over the back of the couch." After the incident, she said Sondland called her up on the phone yelling at her
She reported the incident to her then-husband Kevin Schnabel. "One of the things that always stuck in my head is her comment that he literally had his tongue down (her) throat, (and as she was) trying to get away from him she had fallen over the back of the couch,'' Kevin Schnabel told ProPublica.
Natalie Sept, third accuser
The third accuser, Natalie Sept, who previously worked as a political operative in Portland, alleged that Sondland tried to forcibly kiss her after a work related meeting in 2010. She stated that Sondland suggested he could get her a job with the state film commission if she accept his advances.
Natalie revealed that she rejected his advances and pushed him away and walked out of the meeting room. In all the three cases, the women allege that Gordon Sondland sexually attacked them during business opportunities before making unwanted advances on them.
