Biden sends friend of George Clooney, Brad Pitt to Budapest as ambassador!
David Pressman can start his work as the ambassador of the United States in Budapest after the Senate’s confirmation.
Biden’s choice
According to Magyar Nemzet, President Joe Biden nominated Mr Pressman to be the US ambassador in Budapest. The 45-year-old lawyer graduated from New York University School of Law. Currently, he is a partner at the Jenner & Block law firm in New York. There,
he works as an international human rights lawyer representing victims of terrorism, American hostages held overseas, dissidents and journalists targeted by authoritarian regimes, among others.
He served as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations for Special Political Affairs during the Obama administration. Before, he was a press lead for the Clinton Administration and an aide to United States Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright.
Wikipedia says that he advised several high-stakes individuals on foreign policy and related advocacy strategies. In 2008,
the Los Angeles Times referred to him as George Clooney’s “consigliere”.
A friend of Hollywood stars
With George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and Jerry Weintraub, Pressman co-founded the Not On Our Watch Project, a leading advocacy and grant-making organisation focused on raising awareness of mass atrocities.
“Pressman served as the assistant secretary of Homeland Security responsible for policy development on global criminal justice issues at DHS. He also served as the Director for War Crimes and Atrocities on the National Security Council at the White House. He coordinated the government’s efforts to prevent and respond to mass atrocities, genocide, and war crimes. Pressman was a member of President Obama’s Atrocities Prevention Board,” Wikipedia writes.
Magyar Nemzet wrote that he was the lawyer of Alexander Vindman, a lieutenant colonel and former director of the Europe Department of Trump’s National Security Council. However, he was fired by Trump for confronting him. Later, Vindman’s testimony regarding Ukraine was used during Trump’s unsuccessful impeachment.
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He is an advocate of many human rights issues, including the equality of sexual minorities. For example, he led a workshop in the US foreign office fighting for the acceptance of the LGBTQ community.
The position has been vacant for 1.5 years
Hungary’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was not surprised by the announcement since Washington has asked for a diplomatic agreement before. He can start his work after the Senate’s confirmation.
The United States maintained only a “caretaker presence” in Hungary in the last 1.5 years.
The latest ambassador, Trump’s David Cornstein, departed in September 2020. Since Pressman will take office only a couple of months later, this period of almost two years will be the longest post-1990 period when the USA did not have an ambassador in Budapest.
Source: Magyar Nemzet, Wikipedia