Washington (CNN) The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee admitted Wednesday to speaking on the phone with a key figure in the Ukraine scandal after previously saying such a conversation would have been "very unlikely."

The new revelation by California Rep. Devin Nunes comes after Democrats raised questions about his impartiality on investigating the Ukraine matter before impeachment articles were approved in December against President Donald Trump.

Last month, Democrats released phone records as part of their impeachment inquiry showing that Nunes and a top aide had exchanged multiple phone calls, at key moments, with Lev Parnas and other allies of President Donald Trump who were digging up dirt in Ukraine about Trump's political rivals, primarily former Vice President Joe Biden. The Democratic report identified at least four calls or attempted calls between Nunes and Parnas, an associate of the President's attorney Rudy Giuliani, including a call in April 2019 that lasted longer than eight minutes.

At the time, Nunes didn't deny a conversation had taken place but cast doubt on the Democrats' report.

"You know, it's possible," Nunes told Fox News when asked if he had ever spoken with Parnas. "But I haven't gone through all my phone records. I don't really recall that name."

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