Former Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch Marie YovanovitchGrand jury adds additional counts against Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and and Igor Fruman Strzok: Trump behaving like an authoritarian Powell backs Biden at convention as Democrats rip Trump on security MORE said that it has been a difficult time for her personally amid attacks on her reputation throughout the impeachment inquiry process.

"It's been a difficult time. I mean, I'm a private person. I don't want to put all that out there, but it's been a very, very difficult time because the president does have the right to have his own or her own ambassador in every country in the world," she said while testifying before Congress on Friday.

Rep. Terri Sewell Terrycina (Terri) Andrea SewellRevered civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis lies in state in the Capitol House approves Clyburn proposal to rename voting rights bill after John Lewis John Lewis carried across Edmund Pettus Bridge for last time MORE (D-Ala.) then asked whether the president has "the right to actually malign peoples' character," saying that she believes it would be against decorum to do so.

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"There's a question as to why the kind of campaign to get me out of Ukraine happened, because all the president has to do is say he wants a different ambassador and in my line of work ... all we have is our reputation and so this has been a very painful period," Yovanovitch replied.

In emotional moment, ex-Amb. Marie Yovanovitch calls campaign to remove her "a very painful period."



"How has it affected your family?" Rep. Sewell asks.



"I really don't want to get into that," she says, "but thank you for asking." https://t.co/vLrXmbIBrY #ImpeachmentHearings pic.twitter.com/rYGVQSKKuS — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 15, 2019

Yovanovitch also said on Friday that a campaign spearheaded by 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 attorney 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 and others was to blame for what she described as false attacks that led to her dismissal earlier this year.

She particularly referenced columns in The Hill written by former conservative opinion contributor John Solomon.

Yovanovitch denied both bad-mouthing the president and giving a do-not-prosecute list to the former prosecutor general of Ukraine, an accusation initially included in a column by Solomon in The Hill after an interview with the prosecutor.