Huntsman in talks to be US ambassador to Russia: report

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman (R) is reportedly in talks to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Russia.

A senior administration official told CNN that Huntsman spoke last week with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about the role.

Huntsman has also been in contact with top advisers to President Trump, according to another source.

{mosads}A conflicting Wall Street Journal report earlier this week said Huntsman, who served as former President Barack Obama’s ambassador to China, was in talks to become the State Department’s second-highest-ranking official.

U.S. officials told the Journal that no decision on the deputy secretary of State role has been made, and other candidates besides Huntsman may be under consideration.

Huntsman was rumored to be in the mix to serve as secretary of State before Trump chose Tillerson for the position.

The former Utah governor endorsed Trump’s presidential bid last year, but later called for Trump to drop out of the race after the release of the 2005 tape in which Trump was heard making lewd comments about assaulting women.

“In a campaign cycle that has been nothing but a race to the bottom — at such a critical moment for our nation — and with so many who have tried to be respectful of a record primary vote, the time has come for Governor [Mike] Pence [R-Ind.] to lead the ticket,” Huntsman told the Salt Lake Tribune last October.