Judge rules Giuliani henchman Lev Parnas can share documents and phone data with Congress

A judge has ruled that Lev Parnas, the indicted henchman of Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani who is facing multiple campaign finance fraud charges, can start sharing certain documents and data with the House of Representatives' impeachment inquiry.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Court Judge Paul Oetken is letting Parnas turn over documents and phone data that were seized by investigators upon his arrest this past October. Parnas's attorney said in a court filing that he believes that the United States Department of Justice will send these records to Parnas this week.

Prosecutors in the case did not raise any objections to Parnas sharing the records with the House Intelligence Committee, the AP reports.

Parnas was a key figure in Giuliani's scheme to help pressure the Ukrainian government to launch investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, who is a frontrunner to win the 2020 Democratic nomination.

Despite his own central role in the scheme, Parnas has maintained that he wants to cooperate with investigators and has said that he has information relevant to the impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.