U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with Iraq's President Barham Salih on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, U.S., September 24, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Intelligence Committee asked the Justice Department on Wednesday to provide it with detailed information about a whistleblower complaint central to the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, setting a Friday deadline for the information.

The Democratic chairman of the intelligence panel, Representative Adam Schiff, asked for information about investigations, analysis and correspondence related to the complaint between the Justice Department, the White House, Federal Bureau of Investigation and others.

Schiff sent the letter making his request to Attorney General William Barr on Tuesday night, hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the formal launch of the impeachment inquiry.

The committee made the letter public on Wednesday.

Pelosi, after months of resisting pressure from fellow Democrats, announced the launch of a formal impeachment effort on Tuesday, accusing Trump of putting pressure on the Ukrainian government to damage Democratic presidential front-runner Joe Biden ahead of the November 2020 election.

The administration’s refusal to hand over information about a whistleblower complaint related to Ukraine helped fuel Democrats’ backing for impeachment.