Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos on Tuesday announced his interest in running for Representative Katie Hill’s (D., Calif.) seat in the House.
“Announcement soon on my interest in Katie Hill’s soon to be vacant seat in the 25th district!” Papadopoulos wrote on Twitter.
Hill resigned on Sunday after allegations that she had an inappropriate sexual relationship with her campaign and congressional staffers. The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into the matter after the RedState blog published the allegations, including explicit photos of Hill and the campaign staffer.
“I’m smelling blood in the water now that Katie Hill has resigned,” Papadopoulos wrote on Twitter on Sunday. “California’s 25th congressional district is wide open for the taking. Someone has to step up.”
“I love my state too much to see it run down by candidates like Hill,” Papadopoulos continued. “All talk, no action, and a bunch of sell outs.”
Papadopoulos rose to fame as a result of the FBI’s counterintelligence probe into whether Trump received help from Russian agents to win the 2016 presidential campaign. During a 2016 meeting with Australian intelligence officials, Papadopoulos reportedly bragged that the campaign had obtained dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russian government. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to lying to investigators regarding his contacts with Russia and subsequently spent twelve days in prison.
Hill’s district has trended Democratic in recent years. Clinton won the district by six points in the 2016 presidential elections, while Hill defeated Republican incumbent Steve Knight by nine points in 2018.