FBI agents were seen visiting both the home and business addresses of Robert Hyde, an associate of Rudy Giuliani now central to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

NBC News and CNN both report that the FBI visited Hyde’s home in Weatogue, Connecticut and the location in Avon, CT where he runs both his landscaping business and congressional campaign.

In a trove of WhatsApp messages between Hyde and Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, Hyde told Parnas that he was closely surveilling former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.

Both Hyde and Parnas have tried to downplay the severity of his messages, even as Ukraine opened an investigation into whether Yovanovitch was illegally surveilled.

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FBI agents were seen visiting both the home and business addresses of Robert Hyde, the GOP congressional candidate and associate of Rudy Giuliani now central to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

Citing law enforcement officials, NBC News and CNN both reported that the FBI visited Hyde’s home in Weatogue, Connecticut and the location in Avon, CT where he runs both his landscaping business and congressional campaign. It was unclear what specifically the FBI was seeking to do at Hyde’s properties.

Until recently, Hyde was a little-known, albeit eccentric, landscaper, lobbyist, and Republican political donor who ran in GOP circles and sometimes frequented the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC.

But Hyde is now front and center in Trump’s impeachment, with his actions coming under investigation from the Ukrainian government and possibly Congress and the FBI as well.

In a trove of WhatsApp messages between Hyde and Giuliani associate Lev Parnas, who is currently under federal indictment for his role in the Ukraine scandal, Hyde told Parnas that he was closely surveilling former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch and closely tracking her movements.

Yovanovitch, a career diplomat who served as US ambassador to Ukraine under multiple administrations, was recalled from her position in May after what she described in her testimony in the impeachment inquiry as a concerted and sometimes threatening smear campaign that resulted in her ouster.

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In the messages, which Parnas turned over to the House of Representatives, Hyde appeared to be giving Parnas frequent updates on Yovanovitch’s movements and locations, saying in one message that “it’s confirmed we have a person inside.”

In other messages and in public Twitter posts, Hyde described Yovanovitch as “a POS” and a “b—-.”

Since the release of the WhatsApp messages, both Hyde and Parnas have tried to downplay the severity of his messages, even as Ukraine opened an investigation into whether Yovanovitch was illegally surveilled.

“We were playing. I thought we were playing. I didn’t know he was so serious,” Hyde told Sinclair TV host Eric Bolling. When Bolling asked if Hyde “had eyes” on Yovanovitch, Hyde replied, “absolutely not, are you kidding me?! I’m a little landscaper from f****g Connecticut, excuse my language. “Come on, you know me, Eric.”

In an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow that aired January 15, Parnas described Robert Hyde as “a weird character,” and said that he didn’t take Hyde’s texts about surveilling Marie Yovanovitch seriously because “he was drunk most of the time” and “off the wall.”

Hyde has a documented history of erratic behavior both on Twitter and offline, with NBC News reporting that he shone a “stadium-grade” strobe light into his neighbor’s house after they complained about the state of his yard, once threatened to shoot his neighbor over a dispute involving his dog, and ended up surrendering many of his firearms to police pursuant to a protective order.

Read more:

A GOP congressional candidate allegedly behind the surveillance of Marie Yovanovitch called her a ‘scumbag’ on Twitter, and spread conspiracy theories about Ukraine

Lawyer for diplomat Marie Yovanovitch demands investigation after explosive documents suggest she was surveilled in Ukraine

Text messages show a Giuliani associate discussing how to stalk ‘that b—h’ Marie Yovanovitch in Ukraine in a bid to get her fired

Ukraine launches criminal investigation into alleged surveillance of US Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch