Sondland worked hard to absolve himself of any blame, pointing instead to Giuliani and the president.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Gordon Sondland, a Portland hotelier at the center of the impeachment inquiry into Pres. Donald Trump, testified Thursday on Capitol Hill behind closed doors.

Sondland, who gave Pres. Trump a $1 million donation, has served as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union since last summer.

In written testimony Thursday, Sondland said the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, told him Trump wanted Ukraine to investigate both the 2016 election and a natural gas firm connected to Hunter Biden, former Vice President Joe Biden's son.

But Sondland also worked hard to absolve himself of any blame, pointing instead to Giuliani and the president.

We spoke with Len Bergstein, who worked for Sondland in Portland for about 10 years when Sondland was trying to kill an effort to build a Convention Center hotel.

"[Sondland] wants to say, 'Hey look, I was a butterfly caught in a spider's web- spun by all these evil characters like Giuliani.' He's really trying to shine a light on other people who are really the bad actors," Bergstein said.

Bergstein said Sondland was focused on getting deals done as an ambassador, which may have led him down a bad road.

"He really kind of understands that dimension of politics, the transaction, the deal. And he was caught up in what looks like corrupt actions to accomplish a deal for the president," Bergstein said.

By pointing at everyone else, Bergstein thinks Sondland is trying to deflect potential blame and fade into the background of the growing scandal.