- Newly-released texts show discussions by Rudy Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas that talk about stalking former ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
- The texts, one of which refers to Yovanovitch as ’that b—h’, were made public by the House Intelligence Committee as part of a cache of evidence linking Parnas to President Donald Trump’s efforts to put pressure on Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden.
- Yovanovitch, who testified during President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, was abruptly recalled from her position in May after what she described as a smear campaign.
- Upon the release of the documents, Yovanovitch demanded an investigation to look into the extent of surveillance that was conducted by Parnas and his associates.
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Newly-published text exchanges involving Rudy Giuliani’s associate Lev Parnas show him discussing efforts to stalk former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, and refer to her bluntly as ’that b—h’.
The conversations were made public by the House Intelligence Committee, along with letters and handwritten notes that illustrate Parnas’ role in President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign in Ukraine.
Yovanovitch, who testified during President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, was abruptly recalled from her position in May after she what she characterized as a smear campaign.
The conversations back up Yovanovitch’s testimony, showing Parnas and his associates plotting to “get rid” of her.
Parnas texted his associate Robert Hyde, a Republican running for Congress in Connecticut, in which Hyde called Yovanovitch a "b---h" for being anti-Trump.
In a poorly-spelled follow-up, Hyde said he "can't believe Trumo hasn't fired this b---h. I'll get right in that."
Hyde later sent several texts suggesting he was keeping tabs on Yovanovitch in Ukraine, adding, "They are willing to help if we/you would like a price."
Afterward, Hyde wrote, "Guess you can do anything in the Ukraine with money."
At the end of March, Hyde texted Parnas updating him on Yovanovitch's location and the state of her security.
He followed up saying how they "have a person inside."
A separate text exchange, between Parnas and former prosecutor general of Ukraine Yuriy Lutsenko, saw Parnas describe Yovanovitch as a "fool".
Lutsenko had been criticized in the past by Yovanovitch for alleged corruption.
In one exchange with Parnas, he wrote, referring to Yovanovitch: "And here you can't even get rid of one fool."
Parnas replied: "She's not a simple fool, trust me. But she's not getting away."
On the release of the texts, Yovanovitch demanded an investigation after documents released by the House Intelligence Committee showed she was under close surveillance prior to being ousted from her position.
"Needless to say, the notion that American citizens and others were monitoring Ambassador Yovanovitch's movements for unknown purposes is disturbing," her lawyer Lawrence Robbins told NBC News.
"We trust that the appropriate authorities will conduct an investigation to determine what happened."
Hyde also released a statement about the release of the text messages, saying that he was inebriated while he was texting his associates.
NEWS - Robert Hyde reacts
He tells me tonight via text message:
“How low can liddle Adam Bull Schiff go. To take some texts my buddy’s and I wrote while we had a few drinks to some dweeb I met a few times.... Bull Schiff is a desperate turd.”
— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) January 15, 2020
- Read more:
- Explosive new documents and text messages show Rudy Giuliani associate's central role in aiding Trump's pressure campaign
- Trump attacked Marie Yovanovitch as she testified about learning she was fired while honoring an assassinated corruption activist
- Marie Yovanovitch says she felt 'threatened' by Trump when he attacked her on a phone call with the Ukrainian president
