The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Hyde sued for alleged defamation
WASHINGTON — Connecticut congressional candidate Robert Hyde is named in a defamation lawsuit filed in Florida on Friday by a man Hyde said sent him text messages regarding surveillance of the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.
In his suit, Anthony De Caluwe alleges that Hyde knowingly made false statements about him to NBC Connecticut.
De Caluwe is seeking at least $30,000 from Hyde and a jury trial.
Hyde told NBC Connecticut in an interview that De Caluwe sent him messages about the former U.S. ambassador to pass on to Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Hyde made the same allegation to Hearst Connecticut Media in a phone interview.
The suit states De Caluwe did not know who Parnas was, never surveilled Yovanovitch and did not direct
Hyde to pass messages to Parnas.
“The statements made and published by Hyde are intentionally vilifying by conjecture and innuendo and xenophobia that when considered together paints a picture that De Caluwe is corrupt and committing illegal acts,” the complaint states.
Hyde has not yet filed a response with the court, according to electronic court records. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. He told NBC News he also plans to sue De Caluwe for defamation, libel and slander.
In text messages published by House Democrats as part of the impeachment inquiry, Hyde texted Parnas about former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, roughly one month before she was abruptly pulled from her post in Kiev by the U.S. State Department, a removal sought by Trump and his associates.
“If you want her out, they need to make contact with security forces,” Hyde wrote to Parnas on March 26, 2019.
“They are willing to help if we/you would like a price,” Hyde wrote in one message. “Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money ... what I was told.”
Hyde told NBC he copied and pasted these messages from De Caluwe and acted as an unwitting middle man, but no longer had his message history with De Caluwe.
Other messages released by House Democrats included screenshots of WhatsApp messages about Yovanovitch’s whereabouts sent from a Belgian phone number to Hyde, who then forwarded those screenshots to Parnas.
Hearst Connecticut Media first reported Hyde’s relationship with Parnas, his associate Igor Fruman and Giuliani in November 2019.
A Simsbury resident, Hyde is a Republican donor seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5.