Federal prosecutors in New York were pursuing an investigation related to Rudy Giuliani Rudy GiulianiGrand jury adds additional counts against Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and and Igor Fruman Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates Giuliani criticizes NYC leadership: 'They're killing this city' MORE, President Trump Donald John TrumpObama calls on Senate not to fill Ginsburg's vacancy until after election Planned Parenthood: 'The fate of our rights' depends on Ginsburg replacement Progressive group to spend M in ad campaign on Supreme Court vacancy MORE’s personal attorney, as the Senate’s impeachment trial was concluding, The Washington Post reported Friday.

The investigation, run out of the U.S. attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York, is focused on the activities of Giuliani and his two former associates, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman.

The three are known to have been engaged in a shadow campaign to oust former U.S. 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, whose anti-corruption stance they viewed as an obstacle to Trump’s efforts to pressure Kyiv to investigate his political rivals.

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People familiar with the investigation told the Post that prosecutors recently sought information related to Yovanovitch and inquired about two companies with ties to Parnas.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The recent moves to advance the probe, which included an interview with a witness last week, suggest the Giuliani-linked investigation that is also focused on two of the lawyer’s former associates is advancing even as the Justice Department opens a channel for Giuliani to submit information regarding his personal inquiry into former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenSenate Republicans face tough decision on replacing Ginsburg What Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies Biden says Ginsburg successor should be picked by candidate who wins on Nov. 3 MORE in Ukraine.

Giuliani has railed against the New York prosecutors’ probe, saying it is pursuing the “most unfair, vindictive investigation they have ever conducted.”

“I believe that the leaks and the investigation is intended to intimidate me as the president’s lawyer,” Giuliani told the Post in December. “I am fully confident that I did not commit any crimes of any kind.”

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The news that the investigation is proceeding comes as the Justice Department is under intense scrutiny over allegations of political influence from Trump.

Those worries intensified after the agency recommended a sentence shorter than the one it had first proposed for Roger Stone Roger Jason StoneOur Constitution is under attack by Attorney General William Barr Justice IG investigating Stone sentencing: report Romney says Trump's protest tweets 'clearly intended to further inflame racial tensions' MORE, a longtime GOP operative and Trump associate. The reversal came after the president slammed the first recommendation as overly harsh on Twitter.

Attorney General William Barr Bill BarrBarr says Ginsburg 'leaves a towering legacy' Republicans call for DOJ to prosecute Netflix executives for releasing 'Cuties' Trump doesn't offer vote of confidence for FBI director MORE said Thursday that Trump never asked him to act in a criminal case, including Stone's, but that tweets about the Department of Justice and its employees “make it impossible to do my job and to assure the courts and the prosecutors in the department that we are doing our work with integrity.”