President Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was not only surprising but was also marred by accusations of Russian influence. Even before the election, there was an investigation into the case of the secret agreements, which was intensified after the election. One of the focal points of the investigation is George Papadopoulos, who worked with the Trump Campaign as a member of the Foreign Policy Advisory Board.
George Papadopoulos Biography
On August 19, 1987, George Papadopoulos was born at the Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago. He grew up in Lincolnwood, Illinois, with his Greek immigrant parents. It is hardly surprising that he later became involved in politics, as his father was a local politician in the Greek-American community.
Since Papadopoulos could speak several languages, including Arabic, English, French, and Greek, he graduated from Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois, before moving to DePaul University, where he earned a BA degree in Political Science and then a Master’s in Security Sciences from King’s College London.
Although he has held various positions since 2011, when he finished his education, it was the ace campaign that put him in the spotlight after he boarded the train in March 2016 to work with the campaign’s foreign policy advisory team.
ALSO READ: Kaitlyn Dever Biography, Age, Height, Family Life and Other Facts
Wife – Simona Mangiante
In March 2018, George Papadopoulos married his lover Simona Mangiante at a private event at Chicago City Hall. Before they became man and wife, the couple was engaged for ten months, but they could not go on a honeymoon after the wedding because Papadopoulos was not allowed to travel due to the ongoing Russian investigation. Nevertheless, the couple planned a second wedding in Italy to celebrate with Mangiante’s family.
Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos, a very vocal defender of her husband, is a lawyer. She once worked as a specialist in child abduction cases for the European Union and was then hired by a professor, Joseph Mifsud, who would later be associated with both George Papadopoulos and Vladimir Putin, for the supposed London Centre for International Legal Practices. However, since she did not understand the position and was not paid, she decided to resign only after three months.
Simona Mangiante, who worked tirelessly to help her husband, and who even resorted to her Twitter handle to try to get a lawyer for him, claimed that she had been accused of being a spy. Nevertheless, the former EU lawyer claimed that her husband was not involved in any kind of collusion and that he had nothing to do with Russia.
Why Was George Jailed For 14 Days?
George Papadopoulos’ journey to prison began on March 14, 2016, when he met a London-based professor, Joseph Mifsud, who is connected to some senior Russian officials. They met on his way to Italy, and the next meeting of the two men took place in London on March 24, 2016, where Mifsud told the then-Trump campaign foreign adviser that he had learned that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
From 2015 to 2016, the Democratic National Committee suffered several cyberattacks that had been linked to Russia. Before the news of the hacking became known, Papadopoulos, who had already told some members of the Trump campaign about Russia’s dirt on Clinton, also shared this information with the Australian British diplomat Alexander Downer.
Immediately after the news of the hacking became known and Russia was named as a suspect, Downer contacted American intelligence with the information that George Papadopoulos had given him. This led to an FBI investigation into Donald Trump’s campaign, which began in July 2016.
ALSO READ: Maggie Siff Profile, Husband, Net Worth, Age And Height
Papadopoulos continued to pressure the campaign organization to send people to Russia to meet with officials there.
In 2017, a special consultant investigation led by a former FBI director, Robert Mueller, was launched to investigate a collision between the Trump campaign and Russia in the 2016 U.S. elections. On January 27, 2017, the investigation team interrogated Papadopoulos, who was to be arrested for making false statements to the FBI exactly six months later, on July 27.
He would plead guilty to the crime in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on October 5, 2017. After his guilty plea became public, Donald Trump, who had previously described him as an excellent man, quickly distanced himself from him, describing him as a liar and a lowly campaign volunteer.
The first person to make a deal in the criminal case and plead guilty to the Muller investigation was George Papadopoulos, who was sentenced to 14 days in prison on September 7, 2018, for giving false testimony to the FBI. In addition, he is to remain on probation for 12 months and perform 200 hours of community service. He was also fined $9500 for the crime.