A Federal judge gave the State Department 30 days to publish documents related to Ukraine.
On October 23, a U.S. court ordered the Department of State to release documents related to the situation around Ukraine, including correspondence between Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and US President’s lawyer Rudolf Giuliani, over the next 30 days. This is stated in a widespread ruling of the judge of the metropolitan district of Columbia Christopher Cooper.
Materials on contacts between the Washington administration and the Ukrainian authorities were requested earlier this month by the human rights organization American Oversight, filing a lawsuit on the basis of the freedom of information Act (FOIA).
Cooper also ruled that representatives of the organization should meet with foreign Ministry officials to discuss ways to narrow down the amount of documentation requested. He also agreed that the information was of public interest.
American Oversight, in particular, requested documents related to contacts of Giuliani and representatives of the Ukrainian authorities regarding the son of former US Vice President Joseph Biden, as well as materials on the recall of the American ambassador to Kiev Marie Yovanovitch.
Recall, a telephone conversation between the US President and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky, which took place on July 25, caused a scandal and led to the launch of the Trump impeachment procedure.
According to opponents of the American leader, during the call he tried to influence Zelensky with the aim of initiating an investigation into the activities of ex-vice president Joe Biden’s son in Ukraine in exchange for providing financial and military assistance to Kiev.
Trump and Zelensky deny pressure during the conversation.