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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chastised “smear” pieces on his press secretary after it was reported she belatedly registered as a foreign agent.
The Republican, who is in the middle of a reelection campaign, defended his spokeswoman of roughly a year now, Christina Pushaw, during a public appearance Wednesday.
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“I am not deterred by any smear piece from these legacy media outlets,” DeSantis said, according to local news channel WFLA 8. “The only reason they’re attacking her is because she does a great job and she’s effective at calling out their lies and their phony narratives. I would be much more concerned with my secretary if the Washington Post was writing puff pieces about her. Then I would think something is wrong.”
Pushaw registered as a foreign agent due to her previous work with former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili after she received a call from the Department of Justice informing her that her two-year stint with Saakashvili, from 2018-20, required her to register as a foreign agent, as stated in the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to her lawyer, Michael Sherwin.
During Pushaw’s employment with Saakashvili, she was paid $25,000 to cover her expenses and was also provided free lodging for six months, the lawyer noted.
“Her efforts included writing op-eds, reaching out to supporters and officials, and advocating on his behalf in Georgia and in the United States,” Sherwin said, according to NBC News. “Ms. Pushaw was notified recently by the DOJ that her work on behalf of Mr. Saakashvili likely required FARA. Ms. Pushaw filed for the registration retroactively as soon as she was made aware.”
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The purpose of the act, passed in 1938, is “to promote transparency with respect to foreign influence within the United States by ensuring that the United States government and the public know the source of certain information from foreign agents intended to influence American public opinion, policy, and laws, thereby facilitating informed evaluation of that information,” according to the DOJ website.
The DOJ has not commented publicly on the matter to media.
