U.S. Embassy Officials in Albania Shown Working Directly with Soros Operatives to Channel Grant Money into Left-Wing Operations that Attack Traditional, Pro-American Groups, Governments and Policies in Name of \u2018Civil Society\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n (Washington, DC)<\/strong> \u2013 Judicial Watch today released 49 pages<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0of new documents obtained from the U.S. Department of State about U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) funding for George Soros\u2019s left-wing nonprofit organizations in Albania. The documents deal primarily with the activities of Soros\u2019 top operative in Albania, Andri Dobrushi, the director of Open Society Foundation-Albania, who was actively engaged in channeling funding to what Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban calls Soros\u2019 \u201cmercenary army<\/a><\/strong><\/span>.\u201d The documents show U.S. grant money flowing through non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that profess to promote \u201ccivil society,\u201d while in fact attacking traditional, pro-American groups, governments and policies.<\/span><\/p>\n Judicial Watch filed a May 26, 2017, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>against the U.S. Department of State and USAID after they failed to respond to March 31, 2017, FOIA requests (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development<\/a><\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>(No. 1:17-cv-01012)).<\/span><\/p>\n The records reveal that Soros operative Dobrushi was the first person on a list of invitees by then U.S. Ambassador to Albania Donald Lu to attend an \u201celection rollout event<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u201d held at the U.S. Embassy on April 27, 2015. The event was intended to \u201claunch U.S. assistance for the June local elections,\u201d being held in Tirana, Albania. As Judicial Watch previously reported in an April 4, 2018, press release<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Ambassador Lu has been closely associated with Soros and the socialist government in Albania, which he assisted by denying U.S. visas to conservative jurists from the conservative party in Albania. Lu has since been nominated<\/a><\/strong><\/span> by the Trump administration to become US Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan.<\/span><\/p>\n Additionally, a June 18, 2015, email from Ilva Cuko<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, a Program Specialist in the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Tirana, invites several people, including Dobrushi<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, to a \u201cDonors Grant Reviewing meeting<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u201d at the U.S. Embassy, in which the participants would review applications for grants submitted by NGOs seeking U.S. taxpayer grant money from the State Department. Cuko says she would \u201clike to invite you in a discussion on these proposals. Your valuable input and comments will be used by the U.S. Embassy\u2019s Democracy Commission, which has the ultimate authority in awarding the grants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Cuko on August 28, 2015, also invited Dobrushi to attend another U.S. Embassy Democracy Commission Small Grants Program \u201cGrant Proposal Technical Review<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u201d meeting on September 3 at the U.S. Embassy. At this meeting, Cuko said they would focus on applications dealing with \u201canti-corruption.\u201d Ironically, under the leadership of Soros\u2019 close friend, socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama, who took power in 2013, corruption in Albania has soared, with cannabis trafficking<\/a><\/strong><\/span> in the country increasing 300 percent between 2016 and 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n In a February 22, 2016, email, Cuko again invites several people, including Dobrushi, to another \u201cDonors Grant Reviewing Meeting<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u201d held at the U.S. Embassy on February 26 where Dobrushi would be able to influence Embassy officials who have \u201cthe ultimate authority in awarding the grants.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Another document, titled \u201cGuidelines for the Democracy Commission Small Grants Program<\/a><\/strong><\/span>,\u201d shows that the applications for grants that Soros\u2019 operative was reviewing are part of a program the State Department runs in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States called the \u201cDemocracy Commission Small Grants Program,\u201d which is supposed to \u201cpromote grassroots democracy.\u201d The guidelines also say that the program \u201csupports initiatives of local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) engaged in building the social and intellectual foundations of democracy, the democratic resolution of problems, strengthening civil society watchdog activities, and the institutionalization of open, pluralistic political processes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to Albania, Judicial Watch also has filed FOIA lawsuits against the State Department and USAID for records about funding and political activities of George Soros\u2019 Open Society Foundations in, Macedonia<\/a><\/strong><\/span>, Romania<\/strong> and Colombia<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe Obama administration turned over key State Department activities to George Soros, especially in Albania,\u201d said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. \u201cThe Deep State continues to be aligned with Soros and uses the State Department in countries such as Albania to push his radical agenda. And, of course, tax dollars for Soros abroad frees up resources for his activities here in the United States.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In an earlier document production<\/a><\/strong><\/span> connected to this lawsuit, Judicial Watch obtained 32 pages<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>of records showing that the Obama administration sent U.S. taxpayers\u2019 funds to a Soros-backed group that used the money to fund left-wing political activities in Albania. That included working with the country\u2019s socialist government to push for highly controversial judicial \u201creform.\u201d The records also detail how the Soros operation helped the State Department review grant applications from other groups for taxpayer funding. USAID funds were funneled to Soros\u2019 left-wing\u00a0Open Society Foundations<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in Albania, particularly the Soros operation efforts to give the socialist government greater control of the judiciary. USAID\u00a0reportedly<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0gave $9 million in 2016 to the \u201cJustice for All\u201d campaign, which is overseen by Soros\u2019 \u201cEast-West Management Institute.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n