Granger contradicts Harmon on hiring Washington lobbyist

The Ministry of the Presidency on Friday said it notes with much concern, several statements published in the media which suggest that the Government of Guyana and by extension President David Granger has hired United States lobby firm, JJ&B LLC.

The statement clearly contradicts pronouncements a day earlier by Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency, Joseph Harmon, who had defended the hiring of the firm.

Harmon had said, “…we believe as a Government, it was our duty, our responsibility to ensure that our narrative, the facts as they occurred, should be placed there [on the international stage]. We felt it was necessary to have a company that has that access to be able to put out our side.”

David Granger is the current caretaker Head of State and Government but according to the Ministry of the Presidency on Friday, “the Government of Guyana has not hired JJ&B LLC and has no contractual arrangement or affiliation with the said firm.  No Government funds were used to hire the firm.”
This is despite the document stating pellucidly that the Guyana Dossier was, in fact, prepared on behalf of the Government.

According to a Ministry statement on Friday, President Granger was not involved in the hiring of the said lobby firm.
According to a copy of the public filings made by LL&B, LLC with the US authorities, the contract was inked with the Government of Guyana, represented by the Director General of the Ministry of the Presidency.
The listed address is the Ministry of the Presidency at Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, not any address affiliated with the coalition A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance for Change (APNU/AFC).

In the document filed with the US Department of Justice, which was received by the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit of the United States National Security Division on March 31, 2020, the Guyana Government was named the ‘foreign principal’; the Ministry of the Presidency was listed as the agency that is being represented by the lobbyist firm, and Harmon was named as the official with whom the company engages.

The Ministry further denied that the President is a citizen of the United States of America “as is being suggested by way of documents submitted to the United States Department of Justice and published in the press.”
According to the Ministry, “he is Guyanese” and “the Ministry urges citizens to be responsible when making public statements and at all times seek out the truth rather than disseminating spurious claims.”

It must be noted, however, that references to the President’s citizenship were attributed in all of the public reports to the dossier that Harmon admitted was prepared for Government. Harmon himself was listed as a United States citizen.
Harmon on Thursday had confirmed “we had shared that dossier to the Heads of Caricom while they were here. The Prime Ministers of Caricom [countries] were given copies of that dossier. It was circulated to other places, but it is now getting traction because of where it is coming from.”

He had said too, in defending the hiring of the firm that “I believe that as a country, as a Government, we have a right to ensure that the developments which have taken place in this country, that they ought not to be derailed by a narrative which goes out there – that is contrary to the facts of what is happening here in Guyana.”

On November 14, 2019, Harmon announced that his US citizenship had been officially renounced, a move which paved the way for him to continue his political career in Guyana. However, if Harmon is not a US citizen then he can be charged for committing a federal crime. Additionally, if he is still a US citizen then he misled the Guyanese public when he announced that he has renounced his US citizenship.