George Papadopoulos

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George Demetrios Papadopoulos (* August 1987 in Chicago , Illinois , USA ) is an American political advisor . During Donald Trump's presidential campaign in 2016, Papadopoulos was one of his five advisors in the foreign policy advisory panel from the beginning of March 2016. Papadopoulos was brought to the general public through reports in 2017 of contacts between him and liaison officers with Russian government agencies suspected of influencing the US election campaign in 2016. He was temporarily arrested on July 27, 2017 at Dulles International Airport as part of a special investigation into the 2016 election campaign in the United States . On October 5, 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI on January 27, 2017 when the FBI interrogated him about his contacts with the Russian government in 2016. Since then, Papadopoulos has been cooperating with special investigator Robert Mueller , presumably in exchange for a mitigation of the sentence.

Life and education

George Papadopoulos was born in 1987 in Chicago to the immigrants Kate and Antonios Papadopoulos from Thessaloniki , Greece, and grew up in Lincolnwood , Chicago metropolitan area . His father worked as an internist / nephrologist in Addison , DuPage County , Illinois, and was a. a. also a board member of the United Hellenic Voters of America (UHVA), an organization that supported Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. After attending the South Side Elementary School in Champaign , George Papadopoulos went to Niles West High School (wiki) in Skokie , Illinois , and graduated in 2005. As a result, he began studying political science at the private , Catholic DePaul University , Illinois , from which he graduated in 2009 with a bachelor's degree. Papadopoulos then moved to London and did a Master's in Security Studies (wiki), a sub-category of international relations , at University College London (UCL), University of London . After graduation, he was accepted by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and worked on a second master's degree in international political economy . From March 2011 to September 2015 he worked as a research associate ( intern ) (unpaid internship) at the Hudson Institute , Washington, DC, one of the leading conservative think tanks in the USA. According to his own information in his LinkedIn account, during this time he examined energy supply projects in the eastern Mediterranean, the interaction between different countries in this region (Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon) and carried out analyzes of the (effects) of hydrocarbon reserves in the eastern Mediterranean and Caspian Sea on regional energy security.

According to his own statements, he speaks Arabic , English , French and Greek .

Worked on Donald Trump's election campaign team

Papadopoulos was accepted into the election campaign team of future US President Donald Trump in March 2016 after briefly working for the team of presidential candidate Ben Carson . Carson withdrew his candidacy in the spring of 2016 and later supported Trump's candidacy. Papadopoulos worked as a foreign policy advisor in Trump's election campaign. One of his jobs on Trump's team, according to court documents, was maintaining contacts with ties to the Russian government and preparing possible off-the-record meetings of senior campaign managers with Russian government officials, with the Trump team claiming that Papadopoulos was in Acted on his own initiative and without coordination with the election campaign management.

Arrest and confession of guilt

On July 31, 2016, the US Federal Police, the FBI , conducted an initially secret investigation into the possible influence of Russian government agencies on the presidential election in the USA on November 8, 2016, as part of counter-espionage . According to media reports, the reason for the investigation was the suspicious behavior of Papadopoulos, who was then working as a foreign policy advisor on Trump's election campaign team. As early as April 2016, he had been informed by people with connections to the Russian secret service that Russia had knowledge of stolen e-mails from election campaign employees of Trump's main opponent Hillary Clinton . A little later, stolen emails from the Clinton team were actually published on the Wikileaks platform , causing Clinton considerable political damage.

On July 27, 2017, Papadopoulos was arrested at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington DC on charges of false testimony to the FBI . He was released a short time later after agreeing to cooperate with investigators.

On October 30, the Special Counsel's office announced that Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to the FBI ( 18 USC 1001st ) following a collusion of false testimony . Papadopoulos had admitted that he lied to investigators about his contacts with an undisclosed person with close ties to the Russian government. Papadopoulos said he had spoken to them while working for Trump's campaign team about the exchange of "thousands of emails" from Trump's competitor Hillary Clinton and the possible handover of other incriminating materials. Meetings with Russian government officials were also arranged through the contact person. According to matching media reports, the unnamed person is the Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud.

The confession of guilt and the description of the events took place on oath . Papadopoulos is therefore considered to be legally convicted. Consultation with the Ministry of Justice can reduce the expected possible range of penalties from up to five years to a period of up to six months or a fine.

US President Donald Trump and other representatives of the campaign team rejected any allegations of cooperation with Russia to the detriment of Hillary Clinton. Trump himself knew Papadopoulos only briefly. In addition, Papadopoulos did not play an important role in Trump's team and was not a real consultant, but rather like an intern responsible for "making coffee" ( "coffee boy" ). In an interview with the Washington Post on March 21, 2016, Trump himself named Papadopoulos as a member of the campaign team responsible for foreign policy with a focus on oil and energy. He described Papadopoulos as an excellent employee ( "excellent guy" ).

Application for congress

In October 2019, California 25th District Democratic MP Katie Hill resigned after admitting a sexual relationship with a campaign employee and after an investigation into a possible sexual relationship with a congressional officer. Shortly afterwards, Papadopoulos announced that he would apply for the vacant seat. Papadopoulos, unlike most of the candidates, only ran in the election for the seat for the 117th Congress, not in the extraordinary election to fill Hill's seat for the remainder of the 116th Congress . On election day he missed the runoff election by a long way.

Personal

Papadopoulos lives with his mother and brother in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago . He has been in a relationship with the Italian lawyer Simona Mangiante since April 2017. The couple has been engaged since September 2017.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chicago Sun Times October 31, 2017: Chicagoan's path from Trump campaign to conviction to cooperation
  2. ↑ United States District Court for the District of Columbia : United States of America v. George Papadopoulos (Defendant): Statement of the Offence
  3. ↑ New York Times online October 30, 2017: Former Trump Adviser Papadopoulos Pleads Guilty to Lying to FBI
  4. ↑ New York Times online October 30, 2017: George Papadopoulos, First to Plead Guilty in Russia Inquiry
  5. ↑ New York Times online December 30, 2017: How the Russia Inquiry Began: A Campaign Aide, Drinks and Talk of Political Dirt
  6. ↑ taz (print) November 1, 2017, p. 2: George Papadopoulos, the man who wanted to be important to Trump
  7. ↑ Greek Reporter October 31, 2017: George Papadopoulos: The Greek-American Who Wanted Attention
  8. ↑ United Hellenic Voters of America - Homepage
  9. ^ United Hellenic Voters of America - on the occasion of a mayoral election
  10. ↑ Chicago Sun Times October 31, 2017: Chicagoan's path from Trump campaign to conviction to cooperation
  11. ↑ Smile Politely (blog) October 31, 2017: Holy moly - allegedly, George Papadopoulos went to grade school at South Side in Champaign
  12. ↑ Chicago Sun Times October 31, 2017: Chicagoan's path from Trump campaign to conviction to cooperation
  13. ↑ a b c d USA Today October 30, 2017: Who is former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos?
  14. ↑ LinkedIn: George Papadopoulos
  15. ↑ CNN October 30, 2017: Who is George Papadopoulos?
  16. ↑ Reuters October 31, 2018: Former Trump campaign adviser denies encouraging aide on Russia dealings , accessed February 28, 2018.
  17. ↑ Neue Zürcher Zeitung February 25, 2018: Previously secret memorandum on the Russia affair published , accessed on February 28, 2018.
  18. ↑ LA Times: George Papadopoulos and the Russia case: A timeline , accessed October 31, 2017.
  19. ↑ United States Department of Justice : : confession George Papadopoulos , accessed on 30 October 2017th
  20. ^ Court information on George Papadopoulos ' confession of guilt , accessed October 30, 2017.
  21. ↑ Guardian October 31, 2017: Joseph Mifsud: more questions than answers about mystery professor linked to Russia , accessed February 28, 2018.
  22. ^ New York Times October 31, 2017: The Professor Behind the Trump Campaign Adviser Charges , accessed February 28, 2018.
  23. ↑ The Telegraph October 31, 2017: Revealed: London professor at center of Trump-Russia collusion inquiry says: I have clear conscience , accessed February 28, 2018.
  24. ↑ George Papadopoulos: Statement of the Offense , accessed October 30, 2017.
  25. ↑ Subject to extremely limited appeal in the case of very unlikely procedural errors.
  26. ↑ Plea Agreement Hearing Transcript George Papadopoulos (pdf), accessed October 31, 2017.
  27. ↑ Politico October 31, 2017: Trump and allies dismiss Papadopoulos as the 'coffee boy' , accessed on February 28, 2018.
  28. ↑ Washington Post March 21, 2018: A transcript of Donald Trump's meeting with The Washington Post editorial board , accessed February 28, 2018.
  29. ↑ https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/papadopoulos-seeks-california-seat-left-vacant-by-rep-hill/ar-AAJytuT
  30. ↑ Michael R. Blood: Crowded field chases California seat after Rep. Hill scandal. In: AP News. The Associated Press, March 3, 2020, accessed March 19, 2020 .
  31. ↑ Chicago Sun-Times October 31, 2017: Chicagoan's path from Trump campaign to conviction to cooperation , accessed February 28, 2018.
  32. ↑ Business Insider January 6, 2018: George Papadopoulos' fiancée opens up about her FBI interview, that mysterious London professor, and her wedding plans , accessed February 28, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Papadopoulos, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Papadopoulos, George Demetrios
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American political advisor
DATE OF BIRTH August 1987
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago