Old stories, new lies: Georgia’s opposition UNM party and Congressman Joe Wilson revive disinformation in Washington

The recent American trip by Georgia’s opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), has produced nothing new - merely recycled disinformation relating to events prior to 2012. The author of the claims, Congressman Joe Wilson, is reportedly a recipient of funds from the UNM, according to US FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) records.

With no substantive points to make, former President Saakashvili’s team appears to have embarked on a journey from Tbilisi to Washington solely to revive old narratives and to spread falsehoods through a congressman known for such practices. Wilson did not hesitate, posting a defamatory status on social media suggesting that the Georgian government had labeled the 47th President of the United States a trickster.

In his social media message, Wilson wrote: I just learned that the anti-American Georgian Dream party CANCELLED a proposed Trump Tower in Batumi and called Donald Trump a trickster. Why does Georgian Dream hate President Trump?

However, the Trump Tower project dates back to previous Government initiatives and has never been connected to the Georgian Dream. The skyscraper has always been a commercial project, with private companies managing negotiations, and it never involved investments from the Donald Trump Organisation. Its plan was solely to bring the brand into the Georgian market.

Paid statements from UNM allies have long lost credibility in Georgia. This is hardly surprising, as it is widely known that Saakashvili’s team hires lobbyists to promote anti-state actions and statements, including payments to Joe Wilson. FARA records confirm such transactions, showing that the UNM paid up to ₾1 million ($370,370,37) in lobbying contracts during the summer.

The meeting between UNM and Wilson essentially functioned as a partisan audience with the Georgian Prime Minister positioning Wilson and Saakashvili’s party as two ends of a hostile line against the Government.

Spreading disinformation was not the only purpose of the US trip. UNM members also aimed to discuss the fate of a document described as “friendly” - in reference to the MEGOBARI Act - in Washington, even though, recently, Congressman Steve Cohen told the Helsinki Commission that the Senate will no longer pass any anti-friendly bills.