A group of top House Democrats is appealing to Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanKenosha will be a good bellwether in 2020 At indoor rally, Pence says election runs through Wisconsin Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE (R-Wis.) for help in obtaining records from the Trump administration related to the Russian attacks against 21 state election systems in 2016.

The six Democrats, who serve as ranking members of congressional committees, say they’re trying to recruit Ryan’s help because they’ve exhausted all their other options.

“Our goal is to obtain the documents collected and prepared by our federal agencies about these Russian attacks in order to take concrete steps to prevent them from happening again,” they wrote in a letter to Ryan on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT

“Unfortunately we are being blocked by Trump Administration officials who refuse to produce these documents to Congress and by Republican Chairmen who refuse to demand them. These actions create the unfortunate perception that House Republicans do not want to obtain these documents relating to the Russian attacks against state election systems,” they added.

A top Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official revealed during an appearance on Capitol Hill in June that Russia had targeted election-related systems in 21 states leading up to the 2016 presidential election, while declining to identify which states were impacted for confidentiality purposes. DHS has repeatedly said there is no evidence that any votes were changed.

In January, the Democrats recounted in their letter how they pressed DHS for specific information about the affected 21 states, including “the names of the state officials or offices that were notified.”

The Democrats additionally describe their multiple attempts to wrestle the documents from DHS, saying the law enforcement agency repeatedly produced unsatisfactory responses to their requests.

In one case, they said the agency turned over 50 pages of documents to the lawmakers about Moscow’s meddling that largely “consisted of publicly available documents.”

“To our knowledge, the Trump Administration has not provided any Committee in the House of Representatives with these classified documents about Russian-backed attacks against state election systems,” they wrote.

Rep. Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene CummingsBlack GOP candidate accuses Behar of wearing black face in heated interview Overnight Health Care: US won't join global coronavirus vaccine initiative | Federal panel lays out initial priorities for COVID-19 vaccine distribution | NIH panel: 'Insufficient data' to show treatment touted by Trump works House Oversight Democrats to subpoena AbbVie in drug pricing probe MORE (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, first began asking DHS to provide such information in October. He later appealed to Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy Harold (Trey) Watson GowdySunday shows preview: Election integrity dominates as Nov. 3 nears Tim Scott invokes Breonna Taylor, George Floyd in Trump convention speech Sunday shows preview: Republicans gear up for national convention, USPS debate continues in Washington MORE (R-S.C.) for help him with his efforts, but Gowdy did not respond, according to the letter.

“It is inexcusable the Republican leaders in Congress have done so little to investigate — or address — Russian-backed attacks on our states, despite the fact that we have been asking repeatedly for congressional action on this important matter,” the lawmakers write.

“We have exhausted our efforts at the committee level and we ask that you now personally intervene to protect the integrity and authorities of the House of Representatives to obtain the documents we need to protect our nation against foreign attacks,” they said in their appeal to Ryan.

Democratic Reps. Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.) of the House Judiciary Committee, Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffChris Matthews ripped for complimenting Trump's 'true presidential behavior' on Ginsburg Trump casts doubt on Ginsburg statement, wonders if it was written by Schiff, Pelosi or Schumer Top Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence MORE (Calif.) of the House Intelligence Committee, Bennie Thompson Bennie Gordon ThompsonHouse panel pans ICE detention medical care, oversight Senate to hold nomination hearing for Wolf next week Hillicon Valley: FBI chief says Russia is trying to interfere in election to undermine Biden | Treasury Dept. sanctions Iranian government-backed hackers MORE (Miss.) of the House Homeland Security Committee, Eliot Engel Eliot Lance EngelHouse panel halts contempt proceedings against Pompeo after documents turned over Engel subpoenas US global media chief Michael Pack The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Pence lauds Harris as 'experienced debater'; Trump, Biden diverge over debate prep MORE (N.Y.) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Robert Brady (Pa.) of the House Administration Committee joined Cummings on the letter.

The chairmen overseeing their respective committees were carbon copied on the letter.