But it was severely jumping the gun. The one that used the language about a mob hit was:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/former-mafia-prosecutor-sounds-trump-022300364.html

CNN had a slightly sensationalistic headline for a while:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/politics/robert-hyde-marie-yovanovitch/index.html

The problem is, the Yahoo News headline was based on a tweet (so reliable...) from a federal organized crime prosecutor, and the element of the likelihood that Hyde is actually nuts has come to light. These headlines have been eclipsed by the huge Russia story, and some reporters and editors thinking, “Huh. This nut was in a psych hold after being dragged out of Trump Doral claiming he’s the target of a hit and being hacked by the Secret Service. Maybe some of this is pure psychosis talking? We should probably dig deeper before taking anything Hyde says at face value.” (And they should. They also should be digging into Rudy, Parnas, and friends taking it at face value even it he was lying or delusional, because it says a lot about their mens rea.

On ABC, they're celebrating Robin Roberts' 30th anniversary.

We’ve seen that over and over with mass murders in this country. And if Trump/Giuliani knew they were working with someone who was actively recruiting to kill a US ambassador “for a price,” that’s incredibly damaging.

I cannot believe this isn't the biggest story.

Even if you can surmise that perhaps Giuliani and associates were merely establishing a scary scenario so that others around the embassy thought her security was precarious warranting pushing her to leave the country, it is appalling that Trump & Co. were the instigators of the smear campaign and she did not have the backing of her own government that she had served admirably for decades.

So now we know that Trump's henchmen Giuliani & associates were behind the mysterious threatening circumstances causing her sudden recall. This was not clearly out in open when she testified.

First, the entire freaking Russian government resigning is a bigger story. That’s going to be everywhere today, and for good reason.

Second, while this story may go somewhere eventually, it’s half baked at best now. The story is that a federal prosecutor was concerned that Hyde’s messages sounded like a mob hit in the making. That is NOTHING to hang your hat on, especially when HYDE HAD A SEVERE PARANOID EPISODE AT DORAL THAT LANDED HIM IN A PSYCH HOLD. This is, in itself, an important story - what is going on with a Rethuglican darling lobbyist who is running for Congress, gets involved with the bullshit in Ukraine, then shortly after these messages and Yovanovich’s return winds up at Trump Doral babbling that there’s a hit planned on him with Secret Service involvement?

If the media has withdrawn in part from promoting the story ASIDE from it being eclipsed by the Russian government resigning en masse, it’s because they should have looked into it a lot more before posting it. Is there truly a possibility of a hit that was planned? Or is Hyde a complete loon and all the cloak and dagger stuff came from a psychotic mind? Good reporters might want to parse some of that before just putting it out there.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/01/new-figure-in-ukraine-scandal-was-taken-into-police-custody-at-trump-resort-last-year/

It makes it worse. They knew he was/is unstable and he was actively colluding to threaten an ambassador with other known assoc. of the president's personal attorney??? They have the president being photographed numerous times with a someone who is unstable? And he is running for office. No-this should dominate the headlines, along with every corrupt POS that was involved in this and their ties to Trump.

but you can be a serious republican senator and still be a 6AM drunk

of a saying, not sure of the source:

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.

But, yes, the Russian government resignations are making big news. Depending on the source, this is seen as Putin's step towsrd extending his term indefinitely. Maybe we should beware of Trump emulating his pal.

Posted before finding this thread...
TRump, Inc. is Russian mafia and the rethugians know it. But rank & file rethugians voters will stay in denial.

Now is the time for every damn Democrat to be shouting to the rafters, find a reporter and talk about our ambassador being targeted for assassination. This is extremely important right now to control the narrative, this isn't the time to make nice or ask for 10 sources before saying anything.

I guess what I'm saying is that Democrats need to pretend they are Republicans about these new emails. I don't mean to lie, I mean to get in front of a camera and let your hair down. Jesus Mary, and Joseph, if this event goes away in a day I blame Democrats. As I said in another post, I miss Al Franken.

They were likely referring to enlisting the security services to conduct a set-up or to frame her for some BS thing as a pretext for a diplomatic expulsion. That would be my takeaway from the discussion. With Ukraine as hot as it is, I don't even think these mentally ill souls would seriously consider a genuine "hit" as a solution to their "problem".

People, wake up. This is exactly what trumpie thought he could get away with. He saw how easily the Saudis dispensed with Jamal Khoshoggi and how muted the global response was. No one went to jail. MBS still walks around a free man. Nothing has truly come of that deranged murder. Remember the man was STILL ALIVE when they started to dismember him, FFS. trumpie wants to be able to do the same thing.

Holy moly we all have to get back to our lives, already complicated enough without the necessity of this shitstorm. Future documentaries regarding this period of history, at this point, will be the only way I'll be able to sort out this massive bamboozlement show these fucks have perpetrated on us all. Surely there will come a time we can flush 15 times to leave the whole embarrassing, overwhelmingly corrupt far down the septic system where it belongs, hopefully never to be allowed to reincarnate.
Hopefully someday "Daddy, what were republicans" becomes a moral parable, never to forget just how pungent it became

Tells me somebody was thinking about something more than scaring her. Offing, kidnapping, I don't know. But there are easier ways of scaring somebody. And their concern about the surveillance being noticed is contrary to a desire to scare.

"I dunno, you Republicans seem to put an awful lot of stock in the power of a casual text. Just ask Strzok and Page. -- Jaynie's Got a Bun

This reply was copied and pasted from Hyde's twitter.

In line with how mobsters operate.

These are obvious goons, acting like mobsters, and acutely aware that what they were doing was illegal.

Whether or not this whole business is now an attempt to convince Giuliani to fall on his sword for his boss, one thing is abundantly clear: we don't have a government. We have a mob ring.

This is what we need to hear, not a lot of "what-ifs" about what these guys were fantasizing about.

. . . just ask, give us the go ahead, and let us know how far we should go. Dirty deeds done USSR style.

Sounds awfully like 'I would like you to do us a favor though.'

And we all know how that turned out. So dig deeper, lots more dirt to be revealed there!

But Trump devotees won't care. You got to get them liberuls somehow! Al Capone in the White House, that is OK by them.

and suffer from an occasional undercurrent of fear/anxiety about trust and safety in America.
The corruption is so damned enabled.

these types of discussions were happening in early 1930's Germany. The people of Germany did not know how to stop the impending disaster.

We are different, right?

We can stop this, right?

Right?

Nope.
Nope.
Nope.

Well, it can be stopped but it involves <illegal act redacted> by <actors' names redacted>.

WASF