The political journey of Portland businessman Gordon Sondland took another unexpected turn Friday when he announced he will defy the orders of President Donald Trump and the U.S. State Department and testify before Congressional committees next week about his role in the Ukrainian political crisis.

Sondland, named by Trump the ambassador to the European Union in 2018, has emerged as a key player in the Ukrainian controversy, which has led Democrats in the House to launch impeachment proceedings. The Ukrainian issue exploded into public view after a whistleblower accused Trump of trying to convince Ukraine to meddle in the 2020 presidential campaign.

Sondland’s decision to testify marks a 180-degree shift from earlier this week, when he declined to do so. He said he’d been directed by the State Department to not speak to the committees. In response, the House committees, which are overseeing impeachment proceedings against Trump, subpoenaed him.

"Notwithstanding the State Department’s current direction to not testify, Ambassador Sondland will honor the committee’s subpoena, and he looks forward to testifying on Thursday,” he said Friday morning in a written statement. "Ambassador Sondland has at all times acted with integrity and in the interests of the United States,” the statement went on. “He has no agenda apart from answering the committees’ questions fully and truthfully.”

Sondland apparently will not produce documents requested by House Democrats. He said the state department has control of those documents. “Federal law and state department regulations prohibit him from producing documents concerning his official responsibilities,” he said in the statement.

The Ukranian matter heated up Thursday when U.S. officials arrested two Ukrainian men who had worked closely with Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer. Giuliani has made several trips to Ukraine on Trump’s behalf.

Sondland too has been a frequent visitor to Ukraine, though what he was trying to accomplish there remains unclear. A transcript of a phone conversation released by the White House shows Trump repeatedly pushed Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

Fiona Hill, formerly Trump’s top aide on Russia and Europe, will testify before Congress next week. NBC News reported earlier this week that Hill will say Giuliani and Sondland circumvented the National Security Council and the normal White House process to pursue a shadow policy on Ukraine.

Trump has responded that he and his administration will not cooperate or participate in the House impeachment process.