London (CNN) Boris Johnson, the favorite to succeed Theresa May as British Prime Minister, has refused to rule out firing the UK ambassador to Washington who provoked the ire of US President Donald Trump.

In a televised debate on Tuesday, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who is standing against Johnson for the leadership of the Conservative party, reiterated his support for Kim Darroch, who was revealed in leaked cables to have criticized Trump as "inept" and "incompetent," among other things. "I will keep [Darroch] until he's due to retire," he said.

Johnson, a former Foreign Secretary, refused to go out on a limb about whether he would decide to keep Darroch on. "I won't be so presumptuous as to assume that I'm going to be in a position to takethe indictment.

He originally was charged in February in a complaint that alleged he earned nearly $16,000 in 2010 and 2011 using his son’s Social Security number. Judd made a first appearance in federal court in Portland on Feb. 14 and was released two days later on $5,000 unsecured bail.

Judd’s bail was revoked in July after he lied about where he was living in an attempt to qualify for MaineCare, SNAP and TANF benefits, according to court documents.

This case was investigated by Offices of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and the USDA, the Social Security Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.