US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo took part in a phone call between Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
The disclosure brings the State Department closer to the burgeoning impeachment inquiry that was started by Democrats in the House just last week, and has already sparked a political firestorm in Washington.
According to a senior State Department official who spoke with the Journal, Mr Pompeo was among the handful of officials who participated in the 25 July phone call between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky, the Independent reports.
During that call, Mr Trump appears to have used American aide to Ukraine in an effort to pressure Mr Zelensky to to start an investigation into a political rival, Joe Biden.