A federal judge stepped in Wednesday where House Democrats have been unsuccessful so far.
U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ordered the State Department to turn over Ukraine-related records _ including communications between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
The order came in response to an emergency motion from American Oversight, a government watchdog group that filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit for the records earlier this month.
Cooper gave the State Department 30 days to start handing over the records, which relate to any participation by agency officials in Trump's attempt to pressure Ukraine into investigating Joe Biden and other Democrats before the 2020 election.
Giuliani, who spearheaded Trump's pressure campaign in Ukraine, told the New York Daily News earlier this month that he communicated directly with Pompeo as part of his campaign to unearth dirt on Democrats.
Democrats leading the House impeachment inquiry have subpoenaed the State Department, Pompeo and Giuliani for Ukraine records, but have come up empty-handed so far as the Trump administration has largely refused to cooperate in the inquiry.
Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, lauded Cooper's order and said it blows a hole in Trump's stonewalling.
"Despite the ongoing obstruction of Congress, the Trump administration will now have to start releasing records concerning its dealings with Ukraine," Evers said in a statement. "This is an important victory for the American people's right to know the facts about Ukraine, and it is a major setback for the White House's stonewalling."
A spokesman for the State Department did not immediately return a request for comment. The department will likely appeal Cooper's ruling.
