The Latest: Giuliani acknowledges $500K from Parnas' company

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump and the House impeachment inquiry (all times local):

1:45 p.m.

President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is acknowledging he earned $500,000 for work for a company run by a business associate who has been charged with federal campaign finance violations.

Giuliani says he received two payments totaling $500,000 related to the work for Lev Parnas' company, Fraud Guarantee, which is based in Boca Raton, Florida.

Giuliani says he was hired to consult on Fraud Guarantee's technologies and provide legal advice on regulatory issues, and that he is confident the money came from a "domestic source."

Giuliani also is playing down the $500,000 total, saying he's had larger contracts with other clients.

Parnas and an associate were arrested last week trying to board an international flight. The charges against them relate to a $325,000 donation to a group supporting Trump's reelection.

The men had key roles in Giuliani's efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation against Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

The payments were first reported by Reuters.

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12:05 a.m.

A former White House adviser on Russia has told House impeachment investigators that she had strongly and repeatedly objected to the ouster of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.

A person familiar with Monday's behind-closed-doors testimony of Fiona Hill described her testimony to The Associated Press.

Yovanovitch herself testified last week that President Donald Trump pressured the State Department to fire her.

Hill testified for more than 10 hours Monday in the Democratic inquiry. At issue are Trump's pleas to Ukrainian officials for investigations into political rival Joe Biden's family and into the country's involvement in the 2016 presidential election.

Five more private interviews are scheduled this week, mostly with State Department officials, though it's unclear if all will appear after Trump declared he wouldn't cooperate with the probe.