Evidence review
FARA registration connects Pushaw to Saakashvili.
The strongest documented line is Pushaw-to-Saakashvili.
DOJ/FARA registration #7122 lists Christina Pushaw as registrant and Mikheil Saakashvili as foreign principal.
Reported work ran from January 2018 through November 2020.
Pushaw said all work ended by December 2020.
The filing describes paid and unpaid communications work tied to Saakashvili and Georgian politics across 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Reported value totaled $25,000 plus living support.
$10,000 in 2018, $10,000 in August 2020, and $5,000 in October 2020.
The filing also describes about six weeks in Tbilisi, rent-free, in an apartment owned by a Saakashvili associate.
The amended filing names U.S. contacts and media targets.
The outreach list included Hill staff, NSC, State, USAID, think tanks, and media.
The amended Exhibit AB added contacts involving Senate offices, Helsinki Commission staff, State Department staff, USAID staff, Atlantic Council, Heritage Foundation, RFE/RL, Newsweek, CNN, Fox News, The Federalist, and others.
Pushaw admired Saakashvili before the FARA period.
A 2017 interview placed her in the Georgia/Ukraine/Saakashvili orbit before the disclosed work period.
The archived Georgia Today interview identified Pushaw as a U.S. development specialist and organizer of a pro-Saakashvili rally outside Ukraine's embassy in Washington.
Zelenskyy appointed Saakashvili while Pushaw still worked for him.
The documented chain is Pushaw to Saakashvili to a Zelenskyy-appointed Ukrainian government role.
Zelenskyy appointed Saakashvili in May 2020. Pushaw reported working for Saakashvili through November 2020 and receiving payments in August and October.
Pushaw promoted favorable Zelenskyy messaging.
The record includes a 2019 media pitch and a 2020 article supporting the appointment.
Pushaw pitched Saakashvili's April 2019 pro-Zelenskyy op-ed. In May 2020, she published her own favorable account of Zelenskyy's appointment of Saakashvili; DOJ informational materials include that article.
New Leaders Initiative is documented in Georgia.
Politico describes NLI and points to the GeorgiaNewLeaders Facebook page.
Public records and reporting identify Pushaw as the founder and director of the Georgian NGO.
Politico reported broad social-media deletion.
Politico said Pushaw "deleted all her tweets prior to May 6, 2021" and removed her "Facebook page entirely."
That missing public history overlaps the same Georgia/Ukraine/NLI/Saakashvili period that drives the research question.
Politico preserved screenshots of older Facebook posts.
The screenshots are useful artifacts, best cited as Politico-published images.
The images show older posts attributed to Pushaw about Georgian political culture, living under scrutiny in Georgia, and warnings about some expats in Georgia.
Open Society has a documented Georgia role.
Former OSGF, now Civil Society Foundation, describes a long Georgia civil-society footprint.
The foundation says it has operated in Georgia since 1994 through civil-society, rule-of-law, media, and reform programs.
OSCE partly supports the 2018 campaign-climate concerns, with nuance.
The runoff was competitive, but OSCE also noted serious campaign concerns.
OSCE/ODIHR cited issues including harsh rhetoric, isolated violence, misuse of state resources, media polarization, voter intimidation concerns, and party/state blurring.