CONGRESS MUST INVESTIGATE

American Citizens Are Threatened by
U.S.-Funded Ukrainian Government Agency

Aug. 20—Sixteen prominent Americans whose names appeared on the infamous Blacklist issued by the U.S.-funded Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, under President Zelensky’s National Security and Defense Council, have called on six committees of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to investigate the use of taxpayers’ money to finance these overt threats to the right to free speech and the personal security of U.S. citizens. Those on the list are accused of being Russian propaganda assets, “information terrorists” and “war criminals” by the Center and its Acting Director Andriy Shapovalov. The six Congressional committees, three each in the House and Senate, are Foreign Relations/Foreign Affairs, Judiciary, and Select Committees on Intelligence. The letter, which was hand-delivered to the leaders of the committees, follows below.

We the undersigned American citizens, all of whom were included on the “Blacklist” issued on July 14 by the Ukrainian government office, the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD) under Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, have been accused of promoting “Russian propaganda,” and declared to be “information terrorists” and “war criminals” by this foreign entity. The CCD is being financed by the U.S. Government, including from H.R. 7691, “The Additional Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2022,” which provides funding for the Ukrainian government and its Center for Countering Disinformation. We strongly protest these threats to our constitutional right to free speech, to academic freedom, and to the threat of physical harm coming from a nation at war with the nation we are falsely accused of representing, in our speech and our writings.

We call on your Committee to exercise your oversight of the use of taxpayer funds by investigating the funding of this foreign government agency and their role in directly threatening Americans’ rights and safety. We note that those American citizens targeted on the Blacklist include a sitting member of the U.S. Senate; a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives; a former member of the Virginia House and Senate; two candidates on the November ballot, one for the U.S. Senate and one for the U.S. House of Representatives; four former leading U.S. intelligence professionals; an internationally syndicated columnist in the Catholic Church; prominent academics and journalists and more. See the list, attached. We are prepared to offer our full assistance in the investigation by your Committee.

Sincerely,

Col. Richard H. Black (ret.): Former Marine, former head of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon, former member of the Virginia House and Senate

Graham Fuller: Former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council, 25-year CIA operations officer, author of numerous books

Ray McGovern: Former Army infantry/intelligence officer, CIA analyst/Presidential briefer

Scott Ritter: Former Marine Intelligence Officer, former UN Chief Weapons Inspector in Iraq

Dr. Clifford Kiracofe: Former Senior Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and President, Washington Institute for Peace and Development

James Jatras: Former diplomat, former advisor to U.S. Senate Republican leadership

Harley Schlanger: Former spokesman for Lyndon H. LaRouche, spokesman for the Schiller Institute and The LaRouche Organization

Diane Sare: LaRouche independent candidate for U.S. Senator from New York

Geoff Young: Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Congress from Kentucky, CD 6

Jason Ross: Secretary-Treasurer, The LaRouche Organization and Science Advisor to Lyndon H. LaRouche

J. Michael Springmann: Former U.S. diplomat with the State Department’s Foreign Service, with postings in Germany, India, and Saudi Arabia

Bradley Blankenship: Journalist and columnist

Dr. George Koo: Retired business consultant specializing in U.S.-China Trade and Chairman, Burlingame Foundation

Tony Magliano: Internationally syndicated Catholic social justice and peace columnist

Mike Callicrate: Kansas; Owner, Ranch Foods Direct

Caleb Maupin: Journalist, Founder & Director of the Center for Political Innovation