JD Vance shoots down 'outright lies' in report smearing envoy on Ukraine: 'A literal foreign influence operation'

Vice President JD Vance forcefully rejected a report in Politico that tried to undermine the reputation of the administration's envoy for peace in the Ukraine-Russia war.

Vance said the Politico reporter had participated in a "literal foreign influence operation" that was meant to undermine the peace process. He also accused the writer of intentionally leaving out comments from prominent figures that expressed confidence in Steve Witkoff.

'Felicia is just not very smart, and allowed herself to be used by deep state con men. Or she's in on it, and used her position to willingly participate in a literal foreign influence operation.'

"This story from Politico is journalistic malpractice. But it's more than that: it's a foreign influence operation meant to hurt the administration and one of our most effective members," the vice president said on social media.

"Notice how all of the people attacking Steve are on background? That means it's two or three deep staters who are angry that Witkoff has succeeded where they've failed," he added.

The article by Felicia Schwartz cited many anonymous sources who characterized Witkoff's efforts to secure a peace deal between Putin and Ukraine as disorganized and beyond the envoy's abilities.

Vance said the writer left out his quote on the story as well as those from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Jared Kushner, a former Trump senior adviser. He implied that the article was written in service to a foreign power trying to implode the peace negotiations.

"They have an agenda to blow up the president's efforts to make peace, and they saw her as a useful vessel to launder garbage into the conversation, truth be damned," he added.

He also blamed actors of the deep state.

"There are two possible explanations: Felicia is just not very smart, and allowed herself to be used by deep state con men. Or she's in on it, and used her position to willingly participate in a literal foreign influence operation. Either way, it's disgraceful," Vance continued.

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"To set the record straight: Steve Witkoff is an invaluable member of our team," he added. "He did not mislead anyone on what the Russians told him and what the Russians conceded. (Trust me, I've seen the intel.) The fruits of his negotiations are that we have narrowed the list of open issues in the Russia-Ukraine war to a set of clearly defined issues — specifically, security guarantees and territorial concessions."

He went on to call the article full of "outright lies."

Schwartz argued that the lack of progress in the meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska was evidence that Witkoff's efforts were failing. There are no plans for a second meeting, and Russia has continued pummeling Ukraine.

Blaze News reached out to Schwartz and Politico for comment on the accusations from Vance but did not receive a response.

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