Republican Congress asks incoming administration to target “Axis of Aggressors”

As the 119th Congress prepares for its opening session on January 3, one Republican Congressman is urging the incoming Trump administration to advance American interests and target rogue foreign actors.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, South Carolina Republican Representative Joe Wilson is asking Secretary of State nominee Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and National Security Adviser nominee Representative Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to “prioritize using the means -US to expose and eliminate Georgia sanctions evasion schemes, scam call centers, and other Georgian Dream illegal. businesses.”

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The letter comes after the United States imposed sanctions on the former Prime Minister of Georgia and Russia on billionaire, the country’s governor, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

These activities, according to the congressional letter, made Ivanishvili’s regime benefit from atrocities such as Russian violence in Ukraine, “fueled by Chinese, North Korean and Iranian complicity”.

On December 27, Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the US Treasury for “undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian alliance”.

Congressman Wilson, who chairs the Helsinki Commission, calls the sanctions on Ivanishvili “an important step forward” and urges the incoming administration to extend sanctions to Ivanishvili’s immediate family members and associates:

“This is an important opportunity to advance our joint goals of protecting democracy and fighting evil influence around the world. The Axes of Aggressors will be stripped of their most powerful forces if Georgia returns to the rule of the Georgian people,” – reads the letter.

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Wilson’s letter is a continuation of a series of public complaints among Georgian observers in the United States and Europe following the highly contested victory of the Georgian Dream in the October parliamentary elections and the government’s subsequent decision to suspend its entry into the European Union which led to daily mass protests across the country. the country.

Local and international election observers, including the International Republican Institute (IRI), concluded that the election was “grossly flawed”.

Georgian Dream party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili speaks after the announcement of voting results in the parliamentary elections, at the Georgian Dream party headquarters in Tbilisi, Georgia on October 26, 2024. (REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze)

“Given what IRI’s mission has marked and what has happened since the election, only new elections can restore Georgians’ confidence in the legitimacy of their government,” said IRI President Dan Twining.

Despite domestic and international calls for new elections, the one-party parliament sent to anoint only one president, a former soccer player and a staunch critic of the West Mikheil Kavelashvili on December 29 at the opening ceremony, apparently missing foreign dignitaries and visitors.

Georgian Dream officials have repeatedly downplayed the chances of US sanctions. Minutes after the Treasury’s announcement, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said – “actually, nothing has changed”.

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Kobakhidze, along with other party leaders, also expressed hope for “positive changes” after President Trump takes office on January 20. However, this scenario is unlikely, according to Laura Linderman, Senior Executive at the Council on American Foreign Policy.

“As Trump’s national security team may take strong action against countries aligned with China and Iran, Georgian Dream’s apparent calculations that they will receive favorable treatment under the Trump administration are incorrect,” Linderman told Fox News Digital.

US President-elect 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 very united in supporting the future of Georgia’s democracy and “Trump will not be able to spend a lot of political money challenging the bipartisan consensus on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic approach”.

In recent years Ivanishvilis’ dream government of Georgia has distanced itself more from the West and aligned itself with monarchies. Georgia – until recently – a strategic partner of the US has now legalized such relations with China, favored Chinese companies over American investments, implemented Russian-style “foreign agent” legislation, and suspended EU accession negotiations. This year alone, Prime Minister Kobakhidze has visited Iran several times. 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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Senior Advisor to the Foundation and leading expert on foreign policy James Carafano tells Fox News Digital, that the regimes that rely on support from Moscow and Beijing will find that “playtime is over”, adding that they will not expect a “faithful or indifferent hand” from the Trump administration.

“If there are American interests at stake, and there are in Georgia, governments that want to depend on Moscow may not only get a cold shoulder from Trump, they will probably be slapped on the shoulders,” said Carafano. .