Documents filed with the US Department of Justice have revealed that the Government of Guyana through Director-General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joe Harmon, has hired the services of an American company, JJ&B LLC. to make representation on the Guyana government’s behalf in the US on the recent elections in Guyana.

The price tag attached to the hiring of the company stands at US$40,000 as an initial retainer for the month of April.

In the 31st March filing, the JJ&B Company indicates that it will be seeking to facilitate the resolution of the dispute regarding the recent presidential elections in Guyana and to improve relations between the US and Guyana.

The final results of the 2nd of March elections in Guyana are still to be declared as an agreed recount is set to take place.

Since the elections, the US Government through the Department of State has made known its concerns over the elections, warning that the swearing-in of a President based on results that were not credible could lead to serious consequences.

The recount of all the votes cast has been welcomed by the US Government, which recently supported a statement by the OAS calling for the recount process to be transparent and consistent.

The US lobby firm hired by the Government has stated that it will be contacting officials in the executive and legislative branches of the US Government on behalf of the Government of Guyana and it will also be providing information to the news media.

The filings by the US Company under the Foreign Agents Registration Act also includes a dossier that carries the logo of the APNU+AFC Coalition.

The dossier details a number of issues and events that occurred in the lead-up to, during and after the elections.

Media clippings have been attached pointing to the declaration of the Region Four results, the Court action against the declaration, the rulings of the Court and the other matters that followed. It focuses too on “fake news” websites that appeared during the elections announcing and pointing to a victory for the PPP before the completion of the electoral process.

It also highlights the post-election violent protests that occurred along the East Coast of Demerara and parts of the Berbice region.

The dossier documents media reports on the post-election protests and also details the “storming” of the office of the Returning Officer for the elections in Region 4 and the other events that followed.

In additional documents filed by the lobbying company, the relations between the former PPP Civic government and the governments of China and Russia are highlighted, with the documents stating that Guyana would be in danger of falling into China’s orbit under a PPP government.

In a statement last evening, the People’s Progressive Party described the dossier contained in the filings by the American company as “preposterous”.

The party said the company hired by the Government of Guyana is known as a “sanction busting” company and was hired using taxpayer money.

The PPP said the firm may now have not only implicated itself in a conspiracy to disseminate false information to US lawmakers but also may be implicated in a criminal enterprise to misappropriate public funds.  

“This document is nothing but a tissue of lies which descends to such levels as peddling and promoting ethnic, religious and racial hostilities. This is the dangerous extent to which these political tyrants are prepared to travel, so that they can continue to squat in government”, the PPP release stated.

Back in 2019, it was announced that the PPP had hired a US lobbying company of its own as it prepared for the elections. That company, Mercury, has also had to make filings with the US Department of Justice. In its filings, its contact with media houses in the US, US Government officials, international organisations and officials in the US Embassy in Guyana are highlighted.

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