US Secretary Rubio on Georgia: “Is it in our interest to have an anti-American government governing an important part of the world?”

During a U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, Congressman Joe Wilson, co-author of the MEGOBI Act, asked him about Georgia.

“For 200 consecutive days, freedom-loving Georgians have heroically taken to the streets, embracing themselves in American flags and carrying posters of the president. Under your leadership, what will be done to help the State Department impose real costs on the anti-American Georgian Dream on behalf of the people of Georgia?” asked Wilson.

“Going back to what I said earlier in my opening statement, the goal of the United States is our national interests, so we will look at that and say

is it in our national interest to have an anti-American government governing an important part of the world and if not, we will take appropriate actions to impose costs on that government.

That’s currently under review and we are looking for options, and additional options I have no announcement today specifically what we plan to do yet but I can tell you that that is something that is being discussed.

And again a great example of why we are going to look to our regional bureaus and our local office on the ground there to provide us guidance as to what are the measures that the government, the anti-American government, would be most responsive to,” stated US Secretary of State.

On May 13, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Prime Minister of Georgian Dream, addressed an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

Kobakhidze writes that communication at the highest level between the governments of Georgia and the U.S. has not occurred to date. He states that "given the convergence of values and ideology" with Trump, Georgian Dream had expected Georgia to be among the first countries toward which the U.S. would express particular interest. In his letter, the head of the Georgian Dream government also discusses the "Deep State” and a "revolutionary scenario."

On May 21, Kobakhidze stated that the Trump administration hadn't responded to his letter, "though silence is also a significant answer."

He once again referred to the U.S. House of Representatives' adoption of the MEGOBI Act as a "hostile act." The draft law concerning Georgia provides for the sanctioning of individuals responsible for democratic backsliding and promoting the interests of Russia, China, and Iran. Conversely, it promises close U.S. cooperation with Georgia should the country's foreign policy vector be corrected.

The U.S. has already sanctioned members of the “judicial clan”- Mikheil Chinchaladze, Levan Murusidze, Irakli Shengelia, and Valerian Tsertsvadze - along with their family members, due to their involvement in significant corrupt activities.

Otar Partskhaladze, former Prosecutor General of Georgia, has been designated as a Georgian-Russian oligarch who worked with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) to influence Georgian society and politics in Russia's favor.

Following the adoption of the Russian-style Foreign Agents law, the U.S. imposed visa restrictions on around 30 individuals from the Georgian Dream government, followed by approximately 80 more officials from central and local authorities, as well as Alt-Info leaders Konstantine Morgoshia and Zurab Makharadze.

Georgian Dream's Minister of Internal Affairs, Vakhtang Gomelauri, Head of the Special Tasks Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and his deputies Mileri Lagazauri and Mirza Kezevadze were sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder and honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, has also been sanctioned "for undermining Georgia's democratic and Euro-Atlantic future in favor of the Russian Federation."