Violent protests break out in Georgia
Protests erupt in Georgia after the leader of the pro-Putin Dream Party halted talks to join the EU over claims of foreign interference in the country. (Credit: AP)
Like the 119th Congress prepares for an opening session on January 3, a Republican congressman is calling on the new Trump administration to advance US interests and attack foreign malign actors.
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson calls out Secretary of State nominee Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and National Security Advisor nominee Rep. Michael Waltz (R -Fla.) to ‘give priority’. using U.S. law enforcement mechanisms to expose and dismantle Georgian sanctions evasion schemes, scam call centers, and other illegal Georgian Dream enterprises.
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The letter will come later the United States sanctions imposed on Georgia’s former prime minister and Russia’s billionaire de facto ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili.
According to the congressman’s letter, these operations allow Ivanishvili’s regime to profit from atrocities such as Russian aggression in Ukraine, “fueled by Chinese, North Korean and Iranian complicity.”
On December 27, Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the US Treasury Department for “undermining Georgia’s democratic and Euro-Atlantic future for the benefit of the Russian Federation.”
Representative Joe Wilson (R-SC) speaks during a press conference on the Ukrainian Victory Resolution on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2023. (REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson)
Congressman Wilson, chairman of the Helsinki Commission, calls the sanctions against Ivanishvili an “important step forward” and urges the new administration to extend the sanctions to Ivanishvili’s immediate family members and associates:
“This is an important opportunity to advance our shared goals of defending democracy and countering malign influences worldwide. The Axes of Aggressors would be deprived of a significant force multiplier if Georgia were to return to the rule of the Georgian people,” the letter said.
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Wilson’s letter continues the series of public outrages among Georgia viewers across the United States and Europe following Georgian Dream’s highly controversial victory in October’s parliamentary elections and the government’s subsequent decision to pause its accession to the European Union, which led to massive daily demonstrations across the country.
Local and international election observers, including the International Republican Institute (IRI) mission, concluded that the election was “fundamentally flawed.”
Founder of the Georgian Dream Party Bidzina Ivanishvili speaks after announcing the exit poll results in the parliamentary elections at the headquarters of the Georgian Dream Party in Tbilisi, Georgia, on October 26, 2024. (REUTERS/Iraqli Gedenidze)
“When we reflect on what the IRI mission has observed and what has happened since the elections, only new elections can restore the confidence of the Georgian people in the legitimacy of their government,” said IRI President Dan Twining.
Despite domestic and international calls for new elections, one party parliament pledged the sole presidential candidate, former footballer and harsh critic of the West, Mikheil Kavelashvili, at an inauguration ceremony on December 29, with foreign dignitaries and guests noticeably missing.
Georgian Dream officials have repeatedly downplayed the prospect of US sanctions. Minutes after the Finance Ministry’s announcement, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed: “in reality nothing has changed.”
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Kobakhidze, like other party leaders, also expressed optimism about “positive changes” afterward President Trump will take office on January 20. However, this scenario is unlikely, according to Laura Linderman, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.
“Given that Trump’s national security team would likely take an even tougher stance against countries linked to China and Iran, Georgian Dream’s apparent calculation that they would receive more favorable treatment under a Trump administration is misleading,” Linderman tells Fox News Digital.
Newly elected US President Donald Trump looks on during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Linderman also says that Republicans in Congress are largely united in their support for Georgia’s democratic future and that “Trump is unlikely to expend political capital challenging the bipartisan consensus on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path “.
In recent years, Ivanishvilis’ Georgian Dream Government has increasingly isolated itself from the West and aligned itself with authoritarian regimes. Georgia – until recently – a strategic US partner, has now formalized such a partnership with China, favoring Chinese companies over US investments, Russian style “foreign agents” law, and suspended EU accession negotiations. This year alone, Prime Minister Kobakhidze has made a number of visits to Iran. In Tehran he attended both: the funeral of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and the inauguration of the new President Masoud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in with chants of “Death to America, Israel”.
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James Carafano, Heritage Foundations Senior Counselor and leading foreign policy expert, tells Fox News Digital that regimes that rely on support from Moscow and Beijing will find that “their playtime is over,” adding that they cannot expect a “favorable or indifferent hand” from the Trump administration.
“If American interests are at stake, and there are in Georgia, governments that want to lean on Moscow are likely to get not only the cold shoulder from Trump, but also the shoulder pads,” Carafano says. .
