Pompeo heads to Italy amid reports that he took part in Trump-Zelenskiy phone call

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo departed for Italy Monday amid reports that he took part in a July phone conversation between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that is at the heart of a House of Representatives impeachment inquiry, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Democrats have been moving quickly since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced last Tuesday that she was formally launching an impeachment enquiry. On Friday three House committees announced that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had been subpoenaed, and depositions had been scheduled for five other State Department officials.

House Democrats subpoenaed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for Ukraine-related documents Friday as they plunged into an impeachment probe of President Donald Trump.

The heads of three House committees gave Pompeo one week to produce the documents, saying a number of State Department officials have direct knowledge of Trump's efforts to enlist the Ukraine government's help in his domestic political campaign for reelection. 

"The Committees are investigating the extent to which President Trump jeopardised national security by pressing Ukraine to interfere with our 2020 election and by withholding security assistance provided by Congress to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression," they said.

"The subpoenaed documents shall be part of the impeachment inquiry and shared among the Committees. Your failure or refusal to comply with the subpoena shall constitute evidence of obstruction of the House's impeachment inquiry," they wrote.

The subpoena came one day after the release of an intelligence official's bombshell whistleblower complaint that describes Trump pressuring Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in a July 25 phone call to supply dirt on Democratic political rival Joe Biden.