FYI: It's 38 minutes from Longworth to Dulles...

[brooklynite]

Hope Sondland has an E-ZPass.

[mucifer]

1. he could buy the damn plane ef him

[elleng]

2. MAYBE, but the Hour is Rushing.

[brooklynite]

3. I took traffic conditions into account...

That's why he needs E-ZPass: to hit the I-66 HOT lane.

[uponit7771]

4. That ... LAST ... thing Sondland should be on is a plane no?!!? No WAY I'd be on that plane with him

[crickets]

11. I've been thinking the same thing.

Nowhere is safe for him right now, not with the political climate Trump has been encouraging. Also, Sondland may have just ticked off Putin as well as Trump.

His life just got very interesting.

[magicarpet]

5. Rudy sent over Marine One to get him to the airport faster...

.... 'cept it was missing two rotor blades.

[lunatica]

6. I think he got another flight

There were a few minutes where he keeps glancing at the clock and getting nervous, then he leaned over to talk to the man sitting next him. He immediately looked relaxed so I assumed he gave instructions to get another flight. The cost would mean nothing to him.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. "The cost would mean nothing to him."

He's a federal employee. He ain't paying for that himself.

(the state Department travel staff would just re-work the trip legs with their contracted airline/travel agent)

[brooklynite]

13. Nope - he just checked in at Dulles for the 5:50 United non-stop (per CNN)

[lunatica]

16. He lucked out

It doesn’t mean he didn’t do something like have someone call his people in Brussels to say he might be late. He was quite antsy, checking out the clock. He had already told Schiff he had a scheduled flight. He leaned over to say something to the man sitting next to him, and then he calmed down and went back to listening.

[frazzled]

7. Bottom line

Testifying under subpoena to Congress regarding a critical issue of national security, in an impeachment inquiry investigating presidential malfeasance, takes precedence over catching a plane. There is always another plane. There are always rescheduling of meetings. I think the whole plane thing was a ruse. Do we know where he was going? (I couldn’t watch continuously.)

[BumRushDaShow]

9. I recall them saying he had a flight going "back to Brussels"

so going to Belgium (timing probably so he can arrive in the morning there - red eye equivalent).

But as a note - as a diplomat, he has the "red passport" and can be whisked through TSA no problem.

[frazzled]

14. Sure, Brussels is his base

The question is whether whatever he has to do there by tomorrow morning there is critical or could be tabled a day. With today’s ability to Skype in an appearance at a meeting, it’s still sounds like a bit of an excuse to get out of Dodge.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Oh I *know* he wants to get as far away from here as possible!

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Traffic down there starts picking up around 2:30 pm

(and I have been there done that driving around D.C. metro enough to know when to get on the road to get a head of it)

[onenote]

12. Probably a bit longer than that

Its over 25 miles away. At 4 pm, with typical traffic, its probably closer to 45 minutes.