Gordon Sondland's lawsuit (assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2078…) — seeking $1.8M in legal fees that he says Pompeo promised would be reimbursed b/c he was denied govt counsel in the Ukraine probe — is a reminder of allll the Trump-era legal messes Biden inherited. See: buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil… 
Sondland's theory is that the US is liable for his fees, or alternatively that Pompeo personally is — Sondland is hedging that if the fed govt isn't responsible, Pompeo can't claim he was acting in his official capacity and get the civil legal protections that come with that
Recall the fight over whether DOJ could step in to defend Trump against E. Jean Carroll's suit — it hinged on whether Trump was acting within the scope of his employment as prez when he accused Carroll of lying when she went public with her rape allegation buzzfeednews.com/article/zoetil…
As an aside, lawsuits over attorney fees are one of the few windows we (the public and the press) have into the hourly rates and time sheets of private law firms, so that's something to look forward to #onceanNLJreporteralwaysanNLJreporter
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
