Robert F. Hyde, the Republican congressional candidate linked in new House Intelligence Committee documents to indicted Ukraine native Lev Parnas, said Democrats are taking out of context tweets he exchanged with “some dweeb we were playing with.”
On his Twitter campaign account, Mr. Hyde criticized House Intelligence Chairman Adam B. Schiff for releasing the text messages between himself and Mr. Parnas, asking, “How low can little Adam Bull Schiff go?”
“I was never in Kiev,” Mr. Hyde tweeted. “For them to take some texts my buddy’s and I wrote back to some dweeb we were playing with that we met a few times while we had a few drinks is definitely laughable. Schiff is a desperate turd playing with this Lev guy.”
The committee on Tuesday night released a trove of documents turned over by Mr. Parnas’ attorney as part of the impeachment probe of President Trump.
Included are text messages between Mr. Parnas and Mr. Hyde, a House candidate from Connecticut and a Trump donor, which appear to show that Mr. Hyde was monitoring the movements of then-Ukraine Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch in Kiev.
The texts, exchanged on WhatsApp last March, suggested that Mr. Hyde was in contact with people in Ukraine who were watching Ms. Yovanovitch.
“They are willing to help if we/you would like a price,” Mr. Hyde told Mr. Parnas in one message.
Mr. Hyde said on Twitter that he welcomes an investigation.
“These are bad people, I’m out to expose their actions,” he said. “Attack me all you want, get the facts first. The media is against me because they’re either complicit or have a hand in it, I welcome an investigation. I’ll provide my email password and hand my phone over, bring it on.”
He also sought campaign donations, telling supporters, “Thank you for your kind words and support. Please click the link to make a contribution to our campaign so we can help get the house from Adam Bull Schiff and find the 12 billion dollars that disappeared in Ukraine under Maria Yovanovitch.”
Mr. Parnas is an associate of Trump personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani. He has been charged with campaign-finance violations in federal court.
Both Mr. Parnas and Mr. Hyde have been photographed with the president at various events. Mr. Parnas was trying to help Mr. Giuliani with his investigations in Ukraine, seeking to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to announce a corruption probe of Democratic presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden and his son, Hunter, who held a lucrative post with a Ukrainian energy firm for little work.
In May, Mr. Hyde was removed by police from Trump National Doral Miami in Florida, the Hartford Courant reported. He told a police officer that he was in fear for his life and “a hit man was out to get him,” according to the Doral police department.
Police did not arrest him, giving him a ride to another location. Mr. Hyde told police that his computer had been hacked by the Secret Service and that the Secret Service was watching him at the golf club, according to the newspaper, citing a police incident report.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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