George Papadopoulos
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George Papadopoulos (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 25th Congressional District. He lost in the primary on March 3, 2020.
On December 22, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) pardoned Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty in 2017 to making false statements to the FBI.[1]
Biography
George Papadopoulos earned a bachelor's degree in political science and government from DePaul University in 2009 and a master's degree in science from University College London in 2010.[2]
Papadopoulos worked as an intern and as a contracted assistant to a research fellow at the Hudson Institute from 2011 until 2014.[3][4] The Hudson Institute is a 501(c)(3) conservative think tank that focuses on "interdisciplinary studies in defense, international relations, economics, health care, technology, culture, and law."[5] While at the Hudson Institute, Papadopoulos focused on international relations in the Eastern Mediterranean and organized "the first conference on US- Israel-Greece-Cyprus geopolitical developments," according to Israel National News.[6][7]
Papadopoulos' career experience includes working as an advisor for electoral campaigns on foreign policy, including the 2016 presidential runs of Donald Trump and Ben Carson. He is the former director of the Center for International Energy and Natural Resources Law and Security at the London Center of International Law Practice. As with Hudson, Papadopoulos focused on the Eastern Mediterranean as well as the Caspian region, and natural gas development in the region, according to his biographical details with the organization.[7] In 2015, he spoke to a business and energy convention in Israel, explaining the complex market for natural gas in the region. At the conference, he touched on issues of U.S.-Israel-Russia relations in an interview with Natural Gas Europe, saying, "Whether Israel likes it or not, they will have to deal with Russia for their own security because the facts on the ground have changed so fast and Russia exerted so much influence so quickly that Israel left no other choice but to cooperate over Syria and Lebanon and potentially Egypt. And this is all a result of U.S. policy leaving the vacuum and leading from behind [which] unfortunately the Obama administration advocated for."[8]
Elections
2020
See also: California's 25th Congressional District election, 2020
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 25
Incumbent Mike Garcia defeated Christy Smith in the general election for U.S. House California District 25 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mike Garcia (R)  | 50.0 | 169,638 |
 | Christy Smith (D) | 50.0 | 169,305 | |
| Total votes: 338,943 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 25
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 25 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Christy Smith (D) | 31.7 | 49,679 |
| ✔ | | Mike Garcia (R) | 23.9 | 37,381 |
 | Stephen Knight (R) | 18.9 | 29,645 | |
 | Cenk Uygur (D) | 5.9 | 9,246 | |
 | Getro Elize (D) | 4.0 | 6,317 | |
 | David Lozano (R) | 4.0 | 6,272 | |
 | Anibal Valdez-Ortega (D) | 3.1 | 4,920 | |
 | Robert Cooper (D) | 2.9 | 4,474 | |
 | George Papadopoulos (R) | 1.8 | 2,749 | |
 | Otis Lee Cooper (Independent) | 1.4 | 2,183 | |
 | Christopher Smith (D) (Unofficially withdrew) | 1.3 | 2,089 | |
 | Daniel Mercuri (R) | 0.6 | 913 | |
 | Kenneth Jenks (R) | 0.4 | 682 | |
| Total votes: 156,550 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- David Rudnick (D)
- Charles Patron (R)
- Mark Cripe (R)
- Suzette Martinez Valladares (R)
- Angela Underwood Jacobs (R)
- Katie Hill (D)
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
George Papadopoulos did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
Noteworthy events
Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
- See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016
On June 16, 2015, Trump announced his bid for the presidency at Trump Tower in New York City.[9] Nine months later, on March 21, 2016, Trump announced a list of foreign policy advisors for his campaign, including Papadopoulos.[10] On a conference call with The Washington Post, he introduced Papadopoulos as "an oil and energy consultant. Excellent guy."[11]
The New York Times reported that policy experts were confused by some of Trump's choices for foreign policy advisors: "Mr. Trump has promised to hire the world’s brightest minds to make up for his lack of political experience, but his new foreign policy team left some of the country’s leading experts in the field scratching their heads as they tried to identify his choices." Speaking on the selections, Trump campaign co-chair and policy advisor Sam Clovis told the paper, "These are people who work for a living. If you’re looking for show ponies, you’re coming to the wrong stable."[12]
Comments on Russia-U.S. relations
In a September 2016 interview with Interfax, Papadopoulos commented on the state of relations between the U.S. and Russia, stating that the Obama administration had promised cooperation with Russia but not followed through. He went on to note the differences between Obama's approach to Russia and a potential Trump presidency, saying, "[The] Obama administration was declaring it [the intent to cooperate] without taking concrete actions. There was no practical cooperation, and their words differed from their actions. That is why Russia does not believe in American promises, and the atmosphere of mutual confidence has been lost. Trump, if elected president, will restore the trust."[13]
Investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election
Papadopoulos was the subject of federal investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and was arrested as a result of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. Following his arrest on July 27, 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI, according to unsealed court documents on October 30, 2017. Papadopoulos falsely claimed that he had communicated with an unnamed "overseas professor" who told him Russia had thousands of Clinton's emails prior to Papadopoulos' work on the Trump campaign. He also downplayed his knowledge of the professor's connections to Russian government officials. Through the professor and another Russian national, Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to arrange meetings between Trump campaign officials and Russian government officials.[14] On December 22, 2020, President Donald Trump (R) pardoned Papadopoulos.[15]
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ ABC News via Yahoo! News, "Trump issues flurry of pardons, commutations," accessed December 22, 2020
- ↑ LinkedIn, "George Papadopoulos," accessed October 30, 2019
- ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Hudson Institute Press Secretary, Carolyn Stewart," October 31, 2017
- ↑ LinkedIn, "George Papadopoulos," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Hudson Institute, "About," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Arutz Sheva 7, "George Papadopoulos," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 London Center of International Law Practice, "George Papadopoulos," archived April 8, 2016
- ↑ Natural Gas Europe, "The American Vacuum the Russians Rushed to Fill in the Eastern Mediterranean," December 18, 2015
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Donald Trump Enters 2016 Presidential Race," June 16, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Trump names foreign policy team members," March 21, 2016
- ↑ The Washington Post, "Donald Trump Reveals Foreign Policy Team in Meeting with The Washington Post," March 21, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Top Experts Confounded by Advisers to Donald Trump," March 22, 2016
- ↑ Interfax, "George Papadopoulos: Sanctions have done little more than to turn Russia towards China," September 30, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian to Discuss ‘Dirt’ on Clinton," October 30, 2017
- ↑ ABC News via Yahoo! News, "Trump issues flurry of pardons, commutations," accessed December 22, 2020
