On September 13, during a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee meeting, US Senator Jim Risch remarked that in the upcoming October parliamentary elections, the Georgian people would have the chance to "throw out the scoundrels and take their own future into their own hands." 

Kakha Kaladze, General Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Mayor of Tbilisi, strongly criticized Risch, calling him an enemy of Georgia for his comments. Kaladze stated, "Whoever insults my country, whether it is an American, a European, a Russian or a Chinese, for me they are all enemies."

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, while agreeing with Risch’s statement about removing "scoundrels" from politics, directed the term at the opposition, particularly the United National Movement. He added that, after the elections, the ruling party would work to exclude all such figures from Georgian politics.

Kobakhidze also commented on Eka Gigauri’s speech during the same Senate hearing. Gigauri, head of the NGO Transparency International Georgia, had accused the Georgian authorities of spreading misinformation about the civil sector. In response, Kobakhidze compared her speech to that of Sergo Ordzhonikidze, a revolutionary who played a significant role in the overthrow of Georgia’s First Democratic Republic in 1921. He also criticized her English proficiency.

Notably, the Senate hearing on September 12 was titled "Laws against NGOs and other instruments of democratic repression." Democratic Senator Ben Cardin opened the discussion by expressing concern over the growing trend of democratic countries, including Georgia, India, and Turkey, passing laws that repress civil society. Jim Risch followed by expressing disappointment with the regression of democracy in Georgia, referencing the law passed against NGOs despite warnings from the European Union regarding its impact on Georgia’s EU integration process. Eka Gigauri was invited as a speaker during the hearing, where she argued that while Georgian authorities do not openly criticize the West, they spread information that causes people to question the West’s intentions.