Following an official filing by United States lobbying firm JJ&B LLC, which says it was hired by government to change the narrative surrounding the March 2 elections, the Ministry of the Presidency (MoTP) yesterday stated that neither the Government of Guyana nor President David Granger had hired it.
In a brief statement released yesterday, the MoTP said the government has no contractual arrangement or affiliation with the firm and no government funds were used to hire the firm.
The statement has led to much confusion since it is at variance with several statements made on Thursday by Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon, who has been listed as the point of contact by the firm.
It was also the second suggestion that Granger might have been unaware of the development. General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Bharrat Jagdeo at his Thursday press conference suggested that Granger had been in the dark about the engagement of the firm and only learnt of it through media reports.
Though he denied that state funds were used for the purpose, Harmon on Thursday had publicly acknowledged that the firm was hired and claimed its hiring was part of government’s attempt to change the narrative surrounding the polls, the results of which are still to be finalized due to irregularities in the tabulation of the vote count for Region Four.
On Thursday, Harmon told reporters that “as a government” the incumbent APNU+AFC coalition has the right to ensure that developments in the country should not be derailed by a narrative contrary to the facts. He reminded that at his last press conference he explained that government would be working to change the narrative within the international community. He claimed incensed APNU+AFC were funding the firm’s payment, which was revealed to be at least US$40,000. He did not clarify why the party did not therefore engage the firm rather than the Government of Guyana.
As part of an official submission under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), JJ&B LLC has stated that it has been employed to represent the “Government of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana”. (The firm was required to make a public disclosure under FARA, which stipulates that agents of foreign principals who are engaged in political activities or other activities specified under the statute make periodic public disclosure of their relationship with the foreign principal, as well as activities, receipts and disbursements in support of those activities. The FARA Unit of the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section in the National Security Division (NSD) of the Department of Justice is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the law.)
According to the firm, it has received an initial retainer of US$40,000 to contact officials of the executive and legislative branches of the US government in order to seek resolution of disputes regarding Guyana’s recent presidential election, and in order to improve relations between Guyana and the US.
The firm noted that a written contract did not exist but that it has been paid a retainer of US$40,000 for the month of April and listed Harmon in his capacity as Director General as a point of contact while the Ministry of the Presidency is listed as the specific agency being represented.
This official US government submission has been the subject of media reports since Wednesday. The MoTP yesterday asserted that its contents are “spurious” and labelled media reports on it as “erroneous.”
It also maintained that contrary to the claims made in a supporting dossier being used by the firm, President Granger is not a citizen of the United States of America or any other foreign country.
“He is Guyanese,” it stressed.
The president’s citizenship is one of several statements in the dossier being used by JJ&B LLC that has come in for strong criticism. It had casually listed caretaker President Granger as a US citizen. It was a huge blunder as dual citizenship had become a major controversy over the last two years and forced the resignation of government ministers and opposition MPs.
The dossier also charges that the PPP/C has been seeking to stage a coup to unseat the Granger-led government, which claims it won the polls. It also makes a case that having the PPP/C at the helm of the country would be bad for US interests as opposed to the pro-American APNU+AFC.
Confusing elements
Meanwhile, Jagdeo on Thursday charged that either Harmon is lying to the Guyanese people or JJ&B LLC has lied to the United States government when it said the government was its client.
“Harmon says it is not taxpayers’ money [being used to pay JJ&B LLC]. I don’t believe this is the case…If it is the case, the firm has lied to the US government and are going to circulate a party dossier on behalf of a government. This is a party brief. The document says APNU+AFC not the Government of Guyana,” Jagdeo told a press conference yesterday.
He called on either JJ&B LLC or Harmon to show the origin of the bank transfer used to pay the firm and said that the PPP/C can clearly show from where it made payment to its own US lobbying firm, Mercury Public Affairs.
Jagdeo spent a significant time during his press conference dismissing the lobbying effort and the 147-page dossier being used as part of that campaign.
“This is the worst document I’ve seen in a long time. Even I who am familiar with the situation in Guyana can’t navigate through the confusing elements of this dossier,” he said, while adding that anyone who reads it will conclude that the coalition is a government that, having lost an election, is trying to hold on to power.
One of those confusing elements relate to suggestions that a PPP/C government would increase the influence of Russia and China within the Southern Hemisphere. “They are raising a lot of red herrings hoping that US government position will change but it won’t,” Jagdeo argued.
Jagdeo also questioned the legitimacy of the document based on its claim that both President David Granger and Harmon are US citizens.
“Either they are US citizens and can’t be president and parliamentarian or the document is incorrect and if that is incorrect, what else is incorrect?” he questioned.
