A top State Department aide told acting US ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor — a key witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry — to hand over his duties just days before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected visit Kiev in January, a source familiar with the situation told CNN.
The timing means that Pompeo will not have to meet, be seen or photographed with Taylor, who drew the President’s ire after his damning House testimony that Trump demanded his appointees set up a quid pro quo with Ukraine, explicitly offering much-needed US military aid and an Oval Office meeting in exchange for personal political favors.Pompeo, a stalwart Trump ally who many expect to announce a run for a US Senate seat in Kansas in the near future, has insulated himself from Taylor for weeks, the source familiar said. See story CNN