Democrats say the State Department watchdog used a closed-door briefing on Wednesday to give them "conspiracy theories" tied to Ukraine, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE.

"It's essentially a packet of propaganda and disinformation and spreading conspiracy theories. Those conspiracy theories have been widely debunked and discredited," Rep. Jamie Raskin Jamin (Jamie) Ben RaskinOVERNIGHT ENERGY: House passes sweeping clean energy bill | Pebble Mine CEO resigns over secretly recorded comments about government officials | Corporations roll out climate goals amid growing pressure to deliver On The Money: House panel pulls Powell into partisan battles | New York considers hiking taxes on the rich | Treasury: Trump's payroll tax deferral won't hurt Social Security House panel pulls Powell into partisan battles over pandemic MORE (D-Md.) told reporters after an hourlong briefing with State Department Inspector General Steve Linick.

The closed-door, hour-long briefing was part of a hastily assembled meeting requested by the State Department watchdog.

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Ahead of the meeting, there had been speculation that it could be tied to a whistleblower complaint about President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE's July 25 phone call with Ukraine's president, which is at the forefront of the impeachment probe.

Instead, Democrats say the packet of documents handed over by the State Department watchdog mentions Biden and his son Hunter Biden, Yovanovitch and CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm that investigated breaches at the DNC in the lead up to the 2016 election.

"They appear to contain long-debunked theories and false statements about the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and one of President Trump’s political opponents," said Sen. Bob Menendez Robert (Bob) MenendezWatchdog confirms State Dept. canceled award for journalist who criticized Trump Kasie Hunt to host lead-in show for MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Senators ask for removal of tariffs on EU food, wine, spirits: report MORE (D-N.J.), whose staff attended the briefing.

"These documents provide further evidence of a concerted, external effort to conduct a disinformation campaign against a career U.S ambassador, who has been the subject of baseless attacks, including by the president himself," he added.

House Foreign Affairs Chairman 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 (D-N.Y.), Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffSchiff to subpoena top DHS official, alleges whistleblower deposition is being stonewalled Schiff claims DHS is blocking whistleblower's access to records before testimony GOP lawmakers distance themselves from Trump comments on transfer of power MORE (D-Calif.) and Oversight and Reform Chairman 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 (D-Md.) released a joint statement on Wednesday evening saying the briefing and documents "raise troubling questions about apparent efforts inside and outside the Trump Administration to target specific officials."

"These documents also reinforce concern that the President and his allies sought to use the machinery of the State Department to further the President’s personal political interests," they added.

It's unclear where the documents came from, though Democrats quickly made clear after the briefing that they suspected Rudy Giuliani Rudy GiulianiThe Hill's Campaign Report: GOP set to ask SCOTUS to limit mail-in voting CIA found Putin 'probably directing' campaign against Biden: report Democrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate MORE, Trump's personal attorney, was involved.

Giuliani said on Wednesday evening that he was responsible for some of the information in the packet given to Congress, including providing allegations against Biden.

“They told me they were going to investigate it,” Giuliani told CNN, adding that Pompeo called him after receiving the information.

A Democratic source familiar with the briefing said that the documents came from the White House to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Michael (Mike) Richard PompeoWatchdog confirms State Dept. canceled award for journalist who criticized Trump Trump's push for win with Sudan amps up pressure on Congress Putin nominated for Nobel Peace Prize MORE. The paperwork was organized in folders from Trump hotels and included together in an envelope labeled "White House."

"Those folders contained notes from interviews that took place at Rudy Giuliani’s NYC office with various Ukrainians about debunked conspiracies related to Ukraine. This was just another attempt by the White House to peddle Rudy Giuliani conspiracy theories," the source added.

Republicans have doubled down on calls for an investigation into Biden's role in the ouster of a Ukraine prosecutor in 2016, despite no evidence of wrongdoing.

The material shared with staffers and Raskin, the only lawmaker in the meeting, arrived at the State Department in May addressed to Pompeo. It's unclear who beyond the inspector general that Pompeo shared it with.

Schiff, Engel and Cummings said in their joint statement that the inspector general told lawmakers that he interviewed Thomas Ulrich Brechbuhl, Pompeo's counselor. Brechbuhl told the watchdog that "the packet ‘came over,’ and that Brechbuhl presumed it was from the White House."

A spokesperson for the State Department watchdog didn't respond to a request for comment.

"We also need to understand Secretary Pompeo’s role, given that it appears that he discussed these documents with at least one of his top aides and that the documents were distributed at the highest levels of the State Department," Menendez said.

Raskin noted that the materials came in an envelope addressed to Pompeo with "White House" written on the front, but the lawmaker said it was unclear if it was actually from the White House.

"The real question is, where did it come from?" Raskin asked. "It's clear that whoever put it together was attempting to advance exactly the storyline that Mr. Giuliani would like to be advancing."

Raskin said that if the documents did not come directly from the White House, he thought they might have come from Giuliani. He stressed that he was making a guess and that the State Department watchdog did not mention Giuliani.

"If it really did not come directly from the White House, I would guess that it was Giuliani. ... Giuliani's name is all over it," Raskin said. "Somebody should ask Giuliani if he knows anything about this."

The briefing comes as House Democrats want to speak with five current and former State Department officials as part of their impeachment inquiry, including Yovanovitch.

The State Department inspector general told staffers that they were briefing them in light of the whistleblower complaint, though staffers appeared mystified about what the connection was to their ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Raskin characterized the documents as an "irrelevant distraction from the matter at hand."

A staffer who attended the meeting said that the State Department watchdog had simply handed them the stack of papers.

"Because everyone was confused," the staffer added when asked why that would take an hour. "It was a very strange meeting."

--Maggie Miller contributed

Updated: 7:15 p.m.