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Govt. denies hiring US PR Firm, US Federal documents say otherwise
The government, it would appear, has pulled a Shaggy “It wasn’t me” move in denying reports that it contracted United States Lobbying Firm, JJ & B LLC, to dispel the “false narratives” being peddled by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) in the international community.
A statement released yesterday by the President’s office clashes with pellucid evidence in the US Federal documents submitted by the firm.
In fact, the statement directly clashes with those made by the Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who, it was believed, gave confirmation that government was behind the hire.
Govt. denies hiring US PR Firm, US Federal documents say otherwise
Signed US Federal Document
The release from the President’s office yesterday stated that, “the Government of Guyana has not hired JJ&B, LLC and has no contractual arrangement or affiliation with the said firm.”
However, the documents released by the lobbyist firm sings a different tune.
On the first page of the US Federal registration form, “The Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana” is listed as the client or “foreign principle” with the address given as “Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana” – the same address as the Ministry of the Presidency.
Along with that, when asked to indicate whether the “foreign principle” was either a government of a foreign country, a foreign political party or a foreign or domestic organisation, ‘government of a foreign country’ is selected.
Further, it stated, “if the foreign principal is a foreign government, please state the branch or agency represented by the registrant along with the name and title of the official with whom the registrant engages.”
To these, the “Ministry of the Presidency” and “Joseph Harmon, Director-General, Ministry of the Presidency” are stated.
On the second half of the agreement between the lobbyist firm and their client, “The Government of Co-operative Republic of Guyana” is listed again along with other pertinent details of the arrangement.
The date of the agreement is listed as March 26, 2020 and it is stated that the firm would provide services on a monthly basis, “as requested, in return for an initial retainer of US$40,000 for the month of April”.
The purpose of the arrangement between the firm and the government is stated as “we will be seeking to facilitate resolution of dispute regarding recent presidential election in Guyana, and to improve relations between Guyana and the United States. In doing this, we will be contacting officials in the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government, as well as providing information to news media.”
The scanned agreement bears the signature of Bart S. Fisher. Fisher, Kaieteur News understands, is the lead counsel at the firm.
Further confirmation
Hours after the documents were circulated, Director General Joseph Harmon and incumbent Coalition both issued statements which many concluded suggested that the government hired the firm.
Harmon said, “as a government, we have a duty to ensure our country is not portrayed as the PPP were trying to do.”
Though Harmon did not contextualise his statement, he sent it to Kaieteur News in response to a request for him to comment on the news of the hire.
Further, the Director General stated, “we believe as government that it was our duty, our responsibility to ensure that our narrative, the facts as they occur should be placed there in these capitals and therefore we felt it was necessary to have a company that has that access to be able to put out our side of the story.”
Additionally, the statement from the President’s office addressed claims that government funded the hire. The Director General had cleared this up at a recent forum stating that “upset” Coalition supporters were the ones providing the funds.
The statement also addressed the President being listed as a US citizen in a government dossier provided to the firm. But in response yesterday, the President’s office assured that “the President is not a citizen of the United States of America or any other foreign country” for that matter.
The statement concluded with the President’s office urging citizens to “be responsible” when making public statements and “at all times seek out the truth rather than disseminating spurious claims.”
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