HARTFORD, Conn. _ Documents released Friday night by the House Judiciary Committee shed more light on Connecticut landscaper Robert Hyde's purported surveillance of the U.S. ambassador to the Ukraine, even as Hyde continued to deny any involvement in the scandal at the heart of the impeachment of the president.
Hyde, of Simsbury, told The Hartford Courant on Friday afternoon that he is an innocent man who did nothing wrong and is staying in the congressional race as a Republican for the seat currently held by U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes. Hyde insisted he was never involved in the possible surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch in Ukraine, has never been arrested and has been unfairly painted by numerous articles in the media.
"I'm running for Congress for the right reasons," Hyde said in an interview. "I believe the 'swamp' is very real. There's nothing more disgusting than the 'swamp.' I'm running for Congress. I've never been prescribed any drugs. I'm not an alcoholic. I've never been charged with any crime."
The new evidence released Friday night by the House Judiciary Committee includes a new, short thread of encrypted WhatsApp messages between Hyde and Lev Parnas, an associate of President Donald Trump's personal lawyer Rudolph Giuliani.
The messages show additional messages from Hyde seeming to indicate he was following Yovanovitch's movements in Ukraine through "contacts" of his in what impeachment investigators have suggested was an alleged campaign to harass and threaten her.
"Um, it's confirmed she's in Ukraine," Hyde says in an audio message included in the documents before text messaging "I will give you the address next week."
"Awesome," Parnas responded.
Hyde and Parnas have said neither thought the other actually did have the ambassador under illegal surveillance, but Ukrainian authorities announced this week they are investigating the pair. FBI agents also sought out Hyde at his Simsbury home and his Avon office this week. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday that the State Department will also investigate allegations of surveillance in Ukraine.
Hyde said Friday he has not spoken to federal investigators, however, and added that he has not spoken to U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff of California or anyone associated with the House Intelligence Committee that has been investigating Trump in the impeachment process that resumes Tuesday with a trial in the U.S. Senate.
Instead, Hyde said he has avoided reporters camped outside his Simsbury home by staying at a friend's house. He has declined to comment in response to a number of Courant stories, but arranged to meet with a reporter Friday.
During an hourlong conversation in Hartford, Hyde repeatedly declined to talk about various controversies surrounding him, saying that he was acting on the advice of his lawyers.
"I was joking around," Hyde said in his first extensive interview since the controversy broke. "I was down in Ecuador, I believe, at the time. I was getting these WhatsApp messages from Lev Parnas. ... I'm not a gangster. I don't know these people. I don't have anything to do with them. I'm just a landscaper. I'm not in the business of hurting people _ I never have been."
Hyde said he did not know that the ambassador's computer was off _ as was also mentioned in text messages released earlier in the week.
"How would I know that?" Hyde asked during an interview Friday in the cafeteria at the state Capitol complex in Hartford.
Despite the extensive controversy in recent days, Hyde said that he has no regrets.
"Everything happens for a reason," Hyde said. "That's why I'm sitting with you. ... Obviously, meeting Parnas and his partner happens for a reason. I thought they were joking because everybody said they were jokers, con men, losers, scumbags. So when they were sending me these texts, I'm like, whatever, dude, yeah, under surveillance, just joking."
Speaking of himself, Hyde said, "Rob Hyde, not a con man. Lev Parnas, con man. Do the math."
