Simona Mangiante

Simona Mangiante, originally from Caserta, near Naples, Italy, commenced her career as an attorney. Her professional trajectory included a period working in Brussels, within the European Parliament. During this time, her legal expertise focused on child abduction cases. In approximately 2012, she was introduced to Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor, by Gianni Pittella, a prominent Italian MEP. Mangiante later worked for two high-ranking European Parliament officials, Mairead McGuinness and Roberta Angelilli, and served as an administrator to the home affairs committee under Martin Schulz.

In 2016, following the expiration of her contract with the European Parliament, she accepted a position at the London Centre of International Law Practice, a venture suggested by Pittella and offered by Mifsud. Her role at this institution, which she later described as feeling “fake” and “messy”, lasted for three months until November 2016. During her time in London, Papadopoulos contacted her via LinkedIn in September 2016. She began dating George Papadopoulos in March 2017. Her personal and professional life became entwined with the Trump-Russia inquiry when Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in October 2017, leading to Mangiante herself receiving a subpoena from Robert Mueller’s office.

After moving to the United States in 2018, she became a public advocate for Papadopoulos, appearing in media interviews to defend his character and role in the Trump campaign. She emphasized his contributions, stating he was involved at a high level, wrote speeches for Donald Trump, and arranged a meeting between then-candidate Trump and Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. She married George Papadopoulos in March 2018. Mangiante has also pursued personal ventures, including launching her swimsuit brand, Agape by Simona, navigating her public profile following the legal proceedings involving her husband.