⏩ In one day, long-shot congressional candidate becomes international man of mystery.
WASHINGTON — In one day, Robert F. Hyde, a fringe associate of President Trump’s political circle and a marginal Republican candidate for Congress in Connecticut, has become an international man of mystery.
Tuesday night revelations of Hyde’s communications with operatives involved in the Ukraine investigation at the heart of Trump’s impeachment, have thrust the former Simsbury landscaper into the national news cycle, after texts were released apparently linking him to the effort to oust the former U.S. ambassador there.
The trail to contact Hyde, 40, leads from a basement office on West Main Street in Avon, to a tumbledown shack in the Weatogue section of Simsbury, from which he was evicted last year for nonpayment of $900-a-month rent for his lanscaping company.
Finally, there’s the house on Pheasant Lane near the Farmington River in Weatogue, a $420,000, five-bedroom raised ranch with warnings of a dog, and a Hummer sitting next to a late-1950s Cadillac, in the shadow of a flag pole upon which the Marines Corps flag flies under the stars and stripes. Two heavy-equipment trailers are in the front yard, as well as a snowplow blade.
No one answered the door at the Pheasant Lane residence, but Hyde — who according to the
Federal Election Commission has raised no money in his effort to win the GOP nomination to challenge 5th District U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes — appeared on the conservative television show “America This Week” Wednesday night.
Hyde insisted that he was not surveilling the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, as his texts to Trump-connected businessman Lev Parnas suggested, when publishing by House Democrats. Hyde insisted that he and Parnas were just joking around.
“It was just colorful. We were playing, I thought we were playing,” Hyde said. “I didn’t know he was so serious.”
The Pheasant Lane house in which Hyde resides and is registered to vote, is where local police last June, acting on a protective order, seized six firearms, including a military-style rifle and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition.
In a rare step, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican party on Wednesday asked Hyde to end his campaign for Congress, after text messages revealed Hyde may have aided Parnas in spying on Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, in an attempt to help President Donald Trump. Hyde made no indication he would end his campaign Wednesday night.
“I don’t think he’s going to,” said J.R. Romano, who as state GOP chair is usually required to stay neutral in primary races.
It’s unclear if the chilling text messages will result any criminal consequences or further political ramifications for Hyde. They raise more questions about the extent of Hyde’s connections with Parnas, his associate Igor Fruman and the president’s personal lawyer, which were first reported by Hearst Connecticut Media in November, after Hyde texted pictures of himself with the men to the reporter.
Hyde’s cooperation with Parnas was revealed in text messages that Parnas handed over to Congress after lawmakers subpoenaed him. The messages were part of a larger document trove made public by House Democrats Tuesday night as part of their impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.
Joseph Bondy, a lawyer for Parnas, denied that Parnas was involved in an effort to track or harm Yovanovitch.
“We completely categorically deny that Lev was involved in any activities with Hyde to surveil the ambassador and try to harm the ambassador,” Bondy said. “We believe Mr. Hyde’s activities to be a reflection on his dubious mental state."
Lawrence S. Robbins, Yovanovitch's attorney, asked for an investigation into what happened.
"Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing," he said in a statement.
Hyde did not respond to requests for an interview on Tuesday or Wednesday. He is one of several Republicans seeking to challenge U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-5.
“I am working my way through all of the documents in real time, just as you are,” Hayes said Wednesday morning. “What I have seen so far is deeply disturbing, to say the least. I cannot believe this is coming from my own district. This does not represent who we are and is definitely not reflective of CT-05.”
Hyde already faced calls from top Connecticut Republican leaders to end his congressional campaign when he made a vulgar comment about U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., on Twitter. The State Republican party returned Hyde’s contribution to the party after his comments.
“His campaign is a distraction for the Democrats to raise money and falsely label all Republicans with his antics,” Romano said Wednesday afternoon. “In my view he is not helping other Republican candidates or @realDonaldTrump win.”
U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-5, a member of the House Intelligence Committee that lead the House impeachment effort, said the documents published Tuesday show why it’s critical for lawmakers to get more documents and witness testimony from the administration.
“Can you imagine what we might learn if we weren’t dealing with clowns and fringy characters but actually seeing the emails that exist at State, that exist at the White House that give us a full picture?” Himes said. “Did the State Department know that Ambassador Yovanovitch was getting surveilled?”
Trump has denied that he was involved in a complex scheme to obtain investigations from Ukraine that would harm one of his 2020 political opponents. That scheme has been investigated by House Democrats since September as part of the impeachment inquiry.
House Democrats approved two articles of impeachment against Trump. They voted to transmit those articles to the Senate on Wednesday.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, DConn., added Wednesday that the new evidence makes getting emails and documents from the White House more important than ever for a “fair trial.”
“What did Trump and/or his top advisors know about the surveillance and harassment of an American Ambassador?” Murphy wrote on Twitter. “And did they order or direct it?”
The White House and State Department have not responded to requests for comment. Federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Manhattan and Connecticut declined to comment.