House Foreign Affairs Chairman Eliot Engel has just announced he is investigating the alleged, jaw-dropping threats against former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch. Those threats, which include a disturbing series of text messages (below) were apparently made by Lev Parnas (photo), a former Giuliani associate who has been arrested and charged with campaign finance crimes, and Robert Hyde, a Trump donor and Republican congressional candidate.
“Documents turned over to the Intelligence Committee by Lev Parnas include a profoundly alarming dialogue between Mr. Parnas and Robert Hyde, a Trump donor,” Chairman Engel said in a statement Wednesday. “The messages suggest a possible risk to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch’s security in Kyiv before she was recalled from her post last year. These threats occurred at the same time that the two men were also discussing President Trump’s efforts, through Rudy Giuliani, to smear the ambassador’s reputation.”
Politico national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand tweeted images of the alarming texts Tuesday evening:
Among them are these disturbing texts:
Hyde, the Trump donor who allegedly was part of the text conversation, defended himself via this tweet:
And more recently, this one:
Image via Twitter