I don’t have time to read thru whole thread right now, but from the number of $$$$, seems like the threat was substantial!
Only a brief look at the Mrs. I’m sure there’s more.
wiki:
In 1985, Sondland raised $7.8 million from friends and his wealthy brother-in-law and purchased the Roosevelt Hotel, a bankrupt Seattle hotel.
...
Sondland married Katherine Durant,[9] who is the founder and managing partner of Atlas/RTG, a holding company with a portfolio of shopping centers throughout Oregon.
https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2016/12/outgoing_oregon_investment_cou.html
Dec 09, 2016
Katy Durant, center, the outgoing chair of the Oregon Investment Council, attended her final meeting on Wednesday. She was first appointed in 2005. She is flanked by Rukaiyah Adams, the incoming chair of the council, and Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who is mayor-elect of Portland and was also attending his last meeting of the council.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski raised eyebrows 11 years ago when he named Portland real estate investor Katy Durant to the citizen panel that oversees the state’s pension fund investments.
Some saw a conflict of interest with her day job. Others saw more of the political cronyism that had plagued the Oregon Investment Council in years past, because Durant’s husband, hotel developer Gordon Sondland, was a campaign contributor who served on the governor’s transition team.