US State Department rejects Georgian Gov’t claims on its Embassy involvement in lobbying Saakashvili

The State Department of the United States on Wednesday rejected the allegations by the members of the Georgian Government and affiliated media that an employee in the US Embassy in Tbilisi had been involved in lobbying the release of the currently imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili. 

 

The members of the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed earlier this week Evan Elliott, a former employee in the mission, had been mentioned in the disclosure of the US-based law firm Akerman with the US Department of Justice earlier this month, as part of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, with the information saying the firm had received money from Saakashvili’s family to lobby for his release. 

 

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the GD in the Parliament, said the document had made a mention of the US Embassy figure and highlighted his contact with the lobbyist firm affiliated with the former President two times in March. 

 

“Have we invented the name? The US document mentions him”, Mdinaradze said on Thursday, asking for explanations. 

 

US State Department Deputy Spokesman Vedant Patel said the US Embassy in Georgia had “never been involved” in the lobbying of Saakashvili against the background of accusations. 

 

“I will say once again that the US Embassy in Tbilisi was never involved in lobbying in favor of the former president of Georgia,” Patel says.

 

When asked what could be the basis of accusations against the US Embassy by both the Georgian government and the domestic media, Patel said he did not intend to make a “psychological assessment” of any of the parties.

 

The US Embassy on Wednesday said “no one at the Embassy in Tbilisi has engaged in lobbying on behalf of former President Saakashvili or helped to schedule any meetings for his lobbyists”, adding “malicious stories alleging or implying that Embassy employees received money from lobbying firms are categorically false and irresponsible”.