As the 119th Congress prepares for an opening session on January 3rd, one Republican Congressman appeals to the incoming Trump administration to advance U.S. interests and target foreign malign actors.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson calls on Secretary of State nominee, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and National Security Advisor nominee, Representative Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) to “prioritize using U.S. law enforcement mechanisms to expose and dismantle Georgian sanctions evasion schemes, scam call centers, and other illicit Georgian Dream enterprises.”

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The letter comes after the United States imposed sanctions on Georgia’s former Prime Minister and Russia made billionaire, country’s de-facto ruler Bidzina Ivanishvili.

These operations, according to the congressman’s letter, enable Ivanishvili’s regime to profit from atrocities such as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, “which is abetted by Chinese, North Korean, and Iranian complicity”.

On December 27th, Ivanishvili was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for “undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian federation”.

Congressman Wilson, who chairs The Helsinki Commission, calls sanctions on Ivanishvili a “significant step forward” and urges the incoming administration to extend sanctions to Ivanishvili’s immediate family members and cronies:

“This is a key opportunity to advance our shared goals of defending democracy and countering malign influence worldwide. The Axes of Aggressors would be deprived of a significant force multiplier should Georgia return to rule by the Georgian people,” – the letter reads.

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Wilson’s letter is a continuation in the series of public outcries among Georgia watchers in the United States and Europe following Georgian Dream’s highly disputed victory in October parliamentary elections and government’s subsequent decision to pause its accession to the European Union that led to massive daily demonstrations throughout the country.  

Local and international election observers, including International Republican Institute’s (IRI) mission, concluded elections were “fundamentally flawed”.

“Reflecting on what IRI’s mission observed and on what has transpired since the election, only new elections can restore the Georgian people’s confidence in their government’s legitimacy,” said IRI President Dan Twining.

Despite domestic and international calls for new elections, a single party parliament conveyed to anoint the only presidential candidate, former soccer player and a hard-line West critic Mikheil Kavelashvili on December 29th in an inauguration ceremony, visibly missing foreign dignitaries and guests.

Georgian Dream officials have repeatedly downplayed the prospect of U.S. sanctions. Minutes after the Treasury’s announcement, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze claimed – “in reality, nothing has changed”.

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Kobakhidze, as well as other party leaders, also voiced optimism about “positive changes” after President Trump will take office on January 20th. However, this scenario is unlikely, according to Laura Linderman, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.

“Given that Trump’s national security team would likely pursue an even tougher stance against countries aligned with China and Iran, Georgian Dream’s apparent calculation that they would receive more favorable treatment under a Trump administration is misguided,” Linderman tells Fox News Digital.

Linderman also says congressional Republicans are largely united in their support for Georgia’s democratic future and “Trump would be unlikely to expend political capital challenging the bipartisan consensus on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path”.

In recent years Ivanishvilis’s Georgian Dream government has increasingly isolated itself from the West and has aligned with authoritarian regimes. Georgia – until recently – a strategic U.S. partner has now formalized such partnership with China, has favoured Chinese companies over American investments, adopted Russian style “foreign agent” law, and suspended EU accession talks. This year alone, PM Kobakhidze has paid a number of visits to Iran. In Tehran he attended both – funeral of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and inauguration of the new president Masoud Pezeshkian, who was sworn in with chants of “Death to America, Israel”

Heritage Foundations Senior Counselor and leading foreign policy expert James Carafano tells Fox News Digital, that regimes that are leaning on support from Moscow and Beijing are going to find that “playtime is over”, adding they cannot expect a “favorable or indifferent hand” from the Trump administration.

“If there are U.S. interests at stake, and there are some in Georgia, governments that want to lean on Moscow are likely to not only get a cold shoulder from Trump, they are probably going to get hit with the shoulder pads,” Carafano says.