Trump impeachment: What we know about Robert Hyde, latest controversial character in the Ukraine scandal

A Republican who donated thousands of dollars to Donald Trump has found himself at the heart of explosive new revelations surrounding the president’s impeachment after suggesting he placed the former US ambassador to Ukraine under surveillance.

Robert Hyde, a GOP candidate running for Congress in Connecticut, appeared to inform associates of the president’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani that he was monitoring US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch as she travelled throughout Ukraine.

The findings were revealed this week in a series of WhatsApp messages between Mr Hyde and Mr Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas, who shared a trove of documents with the House Intelligence Committee this week.

Mr Hyde apparently had his own associates in Ukraine tracking Ms Yovanovitch’s movements before the president ordered her dismissal in May 2019. Some Republicans and allies of the White House had criticised Ms Yovanovitch at the time for reportedly blocking an investigation into one of Mr Trump’s 2020 political rivals, Joe Biden, despite Mr Trump encouraging his Ukrainian counterpart to launch the probe.

“They know she’s a political puppet”, Mr Hyde wrote to Mr Parnas. “They will let me know when she’s on the move… They are willing to help if you/we would like a price.”

In a separate message, Mr Hyde wrote: “Guess you can do anything in Ukraine with money… what I was told.”

Another, to Mr Parnas, read: "They are moving her tomorrow. The guys over they (sic) asked me what I would like to do and what is in it for them. Wake up Yankees man. She's talked to three people. Her phone is off. Computer is off. She's next to the embassy. Not in the embassy. Private security. Been there since Thursday."​

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff released the messages on Tuesday and also said in a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler that there were additional “call records with sensitive personal information that should be protected from public disclosure”.

Shortly after the release of the messages, an attorney for Ms Yovanovitch described Mr Hyde’s reported actions as “disturbing” and called for an investigation into his claims of tracking her.

“Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch’s movements for unknown purposes is disturbing,” her attorney Lawrence Robbins said in a statement.

He added: “We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened.”

When asked by CNN whether he planned to harm the then ambassador, Mr Hyde said: "No effing way." However, he declined to say whether he had had her under surveillance.

The new developments led JR Romano, the chairman of the Connecticut Republican Party, to call on Mr Hyde to end his bid for Congress.

“His campaign is a distraction for the Democrats to raise money and falsely label all Republicans with his antics”, the chairman wrote in a tweet, adding: “In my view he is not helping other Republican candidates or @realDonaldTrump win.”

Before Tuesday’s revelations, Mr Hyde was known in Washington as a relatively minor lobbyist who had donated to the president and other Republicans on Capitol Hill.

In an email to the Daily Beast, he insulted Mr Schiff and referred to Mr Parnas as a "dweeb".

He wrote: "How low can liddle Adam Bull Schiff go? I was never in Kiev. 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. Have fun with your witch-hunt liddle Schiff."

Mr Hyde, a former US Marine who is thought to have served in the Iraq War, was also known for a crude tweet he posted against California Democrat Kamala Harris after she announced the end of her presidential campaign.

He was also detained at a resort owned by the president in Florida last year, Mother Jones reported on Tuesday.

Officials described him in a police report as a “male in distress fearing for his life”. According to the report, Mr Hyde “explained that his computer was being hacked by Secret Service”. He was reportedly held by police under a Florida law allowing officials to detain individuals who may pose threats to themselves or the public.

He also reportedly owed over $2,000 in child support payments for his 13-year-old son as he donated to the president’s campaign and the Republican National Committee.