Acting Ambassador to Ukraine Bill Taylor will reportedly soon leave his post at the U.S. Embassy in Kiev.
Unnamed current and former officials told NBC News on Tuesday that Taylor is expected to do so on Jan. 2, roughly six months after he began filling in for Marie Yovanovitch, who was ousted in May.
Politico reported on Monday that the Trump administration is still looking for a permanent replacement for Yovanovitch.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is scheduled to make his first visit to Ukraine next month, according to Politico. However, the precise date has not yet been announced. It is unknown whether Taylor will still be in Kiev upon the secretary of state’s arrival.
An anonymous congressional staffer told NBC News that Pompeo “is not going to want to be in a photo with Taylor.”
Taylor played a critical role in the House’s impeachment investigation. His witness testimony confirmed that the Trump administration was withholding a White House meeting and congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine to force Zelensky into announcing investigations into Joe Biden and the 2016 election.
Taylor also told impeachment investigators that his staffer had overheard Trump asking E.U Ambassador Gordon Sondland about the status of “the investigations” by the Ukrainians, directly implicating Trump in the scheme.
