US Vice-President JD Vance has hit out at a recent Politico report critical of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy in Russia-Ukraine talks, calling it “a foreign influence operation” aimed at discrediting the administration.Vance initially issued a formal response defending Witkoff, stating, “Witkoff has made more progress towards ending the bloodshed in Ukraine than all his critics combined.”But In a lengthy post on X, Vance accused the outlet of “journalistic malpractice” and said the article relied on anonymous sources to push an agenda. “Notice how all of the people attacking Steve are on background?” he wrote. “That means it’s two or three deep staters who are angry that Witkoff has succeeded where they’ve failed.”The Politico story, published earlier in the day, quoted over a dozen unnamed officials who described Witkoff as inexperienced and ineffective in managing talks with Moscow. Vance pushed back, saying the piece omitted key on-record quotes from senior officials including himself, the secretary of state Marco Rubio, and Jared Kushner.He also referenced support for Witkoff from UK national security advisor Jonathan Powell, calling the article “disgraceful” and accusing its author, Felicia Schwartz, of either being used by anonymous operatives or complicit in what he termed a “literal foreign influence operation.”Defending Witkoff’s performance, Vance said, “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, “Maybe we make peace, and maybe we don’t. If we do, it will be because Steve Witkoff and the President of the United States worked their tails off, in the face of outright lies from the mainstream press.” Steve Witkoff thanked VP Vance for offering his very public defense of him,In a post on X, Witkoff wrote, “This statement from our amazing Vice President speaks for itself. Thank you Mr Vice President. It is my honor to serve in the Trump Administration.”The White House has not officially responded to the story, which comes amid heightened sensitivity around backchannel diplomacy efforts in Eastern Europe.Vance’s post triggered a wave of online abuse targeting Politico reporter Felicia Schwartz, with several pro-Trump social media users launching personal attacks. “With a name like ‘Fellatio’ and a face like this… i mean…” one user wrote, sharing an image of the journalist. Another responded, “You as VP can jail the journalist and I think it’s time. Put them in camps, sir.”Known Republican and MAGA social media accounts were quick to run down the Politico story and journalist, branding it as a smear campaign against Steve Witkoff, and alleging it to be solely based on fictional sources.
