The House Intelligence Committee released a trove of documents from indicted Ukrainian-American oligarch Lev Parnas.
Parnas was an associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, until Parnas's arrest last year. Parnas has been cooperating with investigators and yesterday, much of his correspondence with Giuliani and other Trump allies was released, including some sinister text messages.
Parnas was texting Giuliani associate and former GOP Congressional candidate Robert Hyde, and the two were discussing how to go about ousting former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, whom Hyde referred to as a "b--ch."
You may remember Yovanovitch's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee overseeing impeachment from November of last year, in which she said under oath that Ukrainian officials were concerned for her security and advised her to take the next plane out of Ukraine.
Texts between Hyde and Parnas may shed light on what the threat to Yovanovitch was.
The March 2019 texts indicate that Hyde was tracking the ambassador's movements and conferring with Ukrainians handling her security, assuring Parnas he had "someone on the inside." Hyde also speculates on when Yovanovitch will be moved from her secure facility.
Hyde later said to Parnas:
"They will let me know when she's on the move…They are willing to help if you/we would like a price."
The disturbing texts had many fearing that two agents of the President's personal lawyer were stalking an American ambassador with the possible intent to harm her.
Hyde, who exited his Congressional race after sexist comments regarding Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), is responding by making an ass of himself on Twitter.
His alibi? He and his drinking buddies were just joking with Parnas.
Hyde has since deleted many of his pictures with Trump and other Trump allies on social media, but his erratic tweet stream was emanating with some big Trump energy.
Hyde's so-called defense aside, whatever he and Parnas were planning at Giuliani's behest is deeply troubling.
It's unclear whether Hyde will have to answer for the texts under oath, but it won't be easy for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to dismiss the idea outright.
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