A federal judge on Friday ordered the Justice Department to give House Democrats secret grand jury material from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee went to court seeking the information, which was originally redacted from Mueller's report, as part of their ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Justice Department must hand over the information by Oct. 30, noting that the Democrats asked for the material as part of their impeachment inquiry.

"The need for continued secrecy is minimal and thus easily outweighed by HJC's compelling need for the material," Howell said in the ruling, referring to the Judiciary Committee.

Lawyers for the Justice Department argued that existing law prevented the department from sharing the testimony with Congress.

"DOJ is wrong," Howell, an Obama appointee, said in the ruling.

"In carrying out the weighty constitutional duty of determining whether impeachment of the President is warranted, Congress need not redo the nearly two years of effort spent on the Special Counsel's investigation, nor risk being misled by witnesses, who may have provided information to the grand jury and the Special Counsel that varies from what they tell" the committee, she ruled.

In the ruling, Howell also addressed the argument from Trump's supporters that the impeachment investigation is illegitimate because there has not been a formal House resolution authorizing the inquiry.