Robertson’s Desperate Smear Attempt Confirms: Jay Mitchell Has Been Fighting Anti-American Regimes For Decades

From the Mitchell campaign, April 28

BIRMINGHAM, AL—Former Supreme Court Justice and Alabama Attorney General candidate Jay Mitchell today responded to a new attack ad launched by opponent Katherine Robertson. In the ad, Robertson falsely paints Jay Mitchell as a pro-Islamic lobbyist for then-dictator President Islam Karimov. The exact opposite is true. 

Jay Mitchell fought President Islam Karimov head-on and worked to protect pro-democracy reformer Sanjar Umarov, who had been jailed and silenced by President Islam Karimov’s brutal communist regime. As contemporaneous reporting shows, Mr. Umarov was the leader of a political opposition group called the “Sunshine Coalition of Uzbekistan,” and was defying Karimov’s dictatorship by promoting democracy, free markets, and civil society at the time of his imprisonment.

Jay Mitchell stepped in to help—pro bono. He went to Washington to brief members of Congress. He facilitated the passage of a Congressional resolution demanding humane treatment for Umarov, an effort that was carried by Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) in the Senate and co-sponsored by 27 members of the House of Representatives, including five members of the Alabama delegation. That resolution passed both houses of Congress unanimously. 

Mitchell said, “If you want to know why I am so passionate about protecting Alabama from Anti-American agendas, look no further than the Umarov case. I took on a barbaric Muslim tyrant to protect an innocent political prisoner and won. I did it by bringing all of Congress together to stand unanimously for basic human rights, and I did it for free. It was one of the most meaningful experiences of my career.”

He continued, “Perhaps I shouldn’t be, but I continue to be surprised by Katherine Robertson’s willingness to lie outright. This latest smear attempt is indefensible—conduct unbecoming of someone seeking the office of Attorney General. 

Jay Mitchell’s status as a registered agent for the Sunshine Coalition of Uzbekistan was terminated in 2007. Attached are contemporaneous news articles and official documents that tell the real story of Jay’s involvement in the case.