Christina Pushaw, notorious right-wing Twitter troll and press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), “belatedly” registered as a foreign agent after the Department of Justice contacted her about her work for the president of the former Soviet country of Georgia.
“Belatedly” is the word The Washington Post chose to use in its headline and lede, but what really happened here is the nation’s top law enforcement agency said she may have violated the law, and she’s now claiming “oopsies!”
Pushaw reportedly worked for Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili between 2018 and 2020. She started as a volunteer but ultimately raked in $25,000—including a first payment of $10,000 in cash. She also stayed in an apartment owned by a Saakashvili associate for free for six weeks. Pushaw disclosed this work to the DOJ only after it contacted her to remind her about the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA. Her lawyer, Michael Sherwin, said in a statement to the Post:
“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. “The work ended in 2020. Ms. Pushaw was notified recently by the DOJ that her work on behalf of Mr. Saakashvilli likely required FARA registration. Ms. Pushaw filed for the registration retroactively as soon as she was made aware.”
This story came out at 6am Wednesday and at 8:07am Pushaw tweeted:
The bare minimum we can say for Pushaw is that she did register after the DOJ reached out, unlike casino mogul Steve Wynn who the department is now suing to get him to register as a foreign agent for China.
As MSNBC host Chris Hayes wrote on Twitter: “Absolutely astounding the raw percentage of America First types who are literal foreign agents.”
Pushaw, who Jezebel previously diagnosed with the posting disease, was briefly suspended from Twitter in August 2021 after she encouraged her followers to harass an Associated Press reporter who uncovered ties between DeSantis’ top donor and the covid antibody treatment he was promoting.