- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' press secretary registered as a foreign agent earlier this week.
- Christina Pushaw, known for her combative Twitter presence, worked for an ex-Georgia president.
- The Department of Justice contacted her ahead of the voluntary registration, per WaPo.
Christina Pushaw, the press secretary for Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who's known for bashing reporters on Twitter, voluntarily registered as a foreign agent this week after being contacted by the Department of Justice.
First reported by the Washington Post, Pushaw disclosed her work for former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili from 2018 to 2020.
"Starting in 2018, Ms. Pushaw did volunteer work helping to advocate for Saakashvili, a close ally of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the need for free elections and democratic institutions in Georgia where she was living at the time. She was then paid for some of that work, totaling $25,000 over two years, which covered some of her living expenses," her attorney, Michael Sherwin, told Insider in an email.
"Her efforts included writing op-eds, reaching out to supporters and officials, and advocating on his behalf in Georgia and in the United States," he continued. "The work ended in 2020. Ms. Pushaw was notified recently by the DOJ that her work on behalf of Mr. Saakashvili likely required FARA registration. Ms. Pushaw filed for the registration retroactively as soon as she was made aware."
Saakashvili, who is currently incarcerated after returning from exile to his home country, is not mentioned on Pushaw's LinkedIn page, but she had written about her work for him on social media, according to the report. Her LinkedIn lists work for the Georgia opposition party from January 2018 to November 2020.
Saakashvili was Georgia's president from 2004 to 2013, rising to power after a leading the bloodless Rose Revolution, ousting the country's corrupt Soviet era leadership. Saakashvili helped make Georgia a close partner with the US.
Saakashvili left Georgia after his defeat in 2012 and eventually landed in Ukraine, where he was granted Ukrainian citizenship and became governor of Odessa in 2015 — giving up his Georgian citizenship in the process. During his time in Ukraine, the former world leader faced criminal charges in his native country and was convicted in absentia in 2018. Saakashvili, who has dismissed the charges against him as politically motivated, was arrested in October 2021 after returning to Georgia following years in exile.
Asked about the Pushaw news on Wednesday during a press conference in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, DeSantis called the Post's reporting a "smear" and a "hit" piece. He first replied: "She's right behind you so you can ask her."
"I think you have some of these media outlets, like these legacy outlets in DC and New York, and anybody that's standing up and fighting back — which she has done — they want to smear," he added. "And so they will do hit pieces. That's just how they do. And you know what? That doesn't work anymore. Because nobody in the public believes their garbage."
Pushaw has been working for DeSantis since May 2021. Since then, she has been one of DeSantis' fiercest attack-dogs on Twitter, ripping into reporters and screenshotting their inquires and her full responses. She'll openly criticize reporting or individual journalists she views as biased in their coverage, particularly when it's aimed at the governor.
This story has been updated to include Gov. Ron DeSantis' response.