An ethics complaint has been filed against Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Gordon Sondland’s involvement with Provenance Hotels, a Portland-based company, caused the congressman to call for a boycott of the hotel chain. Now the company’s president is calling the hyper-partisan move a “politically motivated campaign of intimidation.”

Sondland is the United States Ambassador to the European Union. He is the founder and chairman of Provenance Hotels. He was a major donor to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration. Sondland is in the middle of Trump’s impeachment inquiry over his text messages about an alleged quid pro quo offered by President Trump to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Rep. Blumenauer called for a boycott of the hotel chain in retaliation against Sondland heeding the instructions from State Department against testifying. Blumenauer issued a statement and also called for a boycott on Twitter.

“Anyone who cares about America should not do any business or stay at any of Gordon Sondland’s hotels. Not until he fulfills his duty as a citizen to testify and turn over all relevant documents to the House of Representatives,” Blumenauer said in a statement. “Nobody is above the law. Mr. Sondland and the entire Trump administration need to be reminded of that.”

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.

Here’s a list of his hotels: https://t.co/a2MvRc8tVs

Share if you agree!

— Earl Blumenauer (@repblumenauer) October 9, 2019

Progressive activists took notice and complied with Blumenauer’s call for a boycott.

We just removed Hotel Lucia from our wedding travel recommendations — looking forward to supporting ethical local business at our April Portland wedding in your district, @repblumenauer ! https://t.co/SXM4Oili9R

— Katie Reichard, PhD (@klreichard) October 9, 2019

The ambassador’s appearance on Capitol Hill last week was blocked by the State Department at the last minute. Blumenauer was triggered and tweeted about a boycott in retaliation. Sondland agreed to testify Thursday in compliance with a congressional subpoena and Blumenauer was quick to take credit for that decision. He fights.

We have shown that refusing to testify to Congress has consequences.

I'm glad to hear that Ambassador Sondland agreed to fulfill his duty over Trump's objections. Now is the time for others who have information to come forward and tell us what they know.

— Earl Blumenauer (@repblumenauer) October 11, 2019

An ethics complaint has been filed against Blumenauer for what appears to be a blatant politically motivated action against a company and one that will harm its 1,100 employees.

The complaint filed by Provenance Hotels alleges Blumenauer has improperly used his position to threaten “economic harm” to a company and unlawfully threatened “reprisal” versus a federal official, according to a copy of the complaint posted on Twitter Saturday morning by a Provenance employee.

The company is also sharing a letter written to Provenance employees by Bashar Wali, the company’s president, calling the boycott call a “politically motivated campaign of intimidation.

“Today, we are being targeted. Who will be next? That’s why we are pursuing this Congressional ethics complaint: to call attention to these tactics, defend your jobs and protect those who may be targeted in the future,” Wali wrote.

https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1183075676208787456

Provenance Hotels operates six hotels in Portland, three in Washington state, two in New Orleans and one in Nashville. According to Ms. Carmichael, a spokesperson for Provenance Hotels, Sondland is one of 100+ investors in the company. He relinquished his role in running the company when he became Ambassador to the European Union.

https://twitter.com/ellencarmichael/status/1183075656818548737

This is what politically motivated retaliation looks like. The 1,100 jobs in the balance of ordinary working people trying to keep food on the table for their families may be collateral damage of a Trump deranged politician’s unethical actions. Boycotts are one thing, boycotts called by American politicians against American companies is unacceptable and unethical behavior.