Jay Footlik
Jay Footlik | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 19, 1965 |
Jay Kerry Footlik (October 19, 1965)[1] is an American actor and a lobbyist for Qatar[2][3] and Morocco.[4][5]
He served as Special Assistant to United States President Bill Clinton[3] and as a senior Middle East advisor to John Kerry.[5]
Early life and education
[edit]Footlik was born in 1965 in Skokie, Illinois.[6] As a child his family suffered from financial struggles, still sending him to Hebrew School at Niles Township Jewish Congregation.[6] He graduated fron Niles North High School.[7]
He earned a B.A. in political science from UCLA, specializing in US foreign policy and the Middle East (1988). He also has a law degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles (1994) and is a member of the Maryland State Bar Association.[8][9]
Career
[edit]On Theatre and on screen
[edit]At age 12 Footlik had his first professional theatrical appearance in "Working" by Studs Terkel, adapted and directed by Stephen Schwartz at Goodman Theatre in Chicago.[6] He later performed in numerous Chicago productions at Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre and others. He has appeared on movies such as: Teen Wolf (1985),[6] Iron Eagle (1986)[6] and Redemption Day (2021); and on television in Chicago Story (1982), The Judge (1986) and Dig (2015).
In politics
[edit]He held a senior position on Bill Clinton’s successful campaign for president in 1992 and was later a Special Assistant to Clinton while he serves as the United States President.[8] He was also special liaison to the American Jewish community in Clinton's administration.[6][10][11]
He was later Senior Middle East Advisor for John Kerry’s Presidential campaign in 2004,[8] and Director of Constituency Outreach for Joe Lieberman’s presidential campaign in 2008.[8][12][13]
Footlik was a candidate for United States Congress in Illinois's 10th congressional district, losing to Dan Seals in the primary in 2008.[14]
More Information
[edit]Footlik serves on the board of trustees of the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) and is a founding board member of SAFE (Securing America's Future Energy), an organization dedicated to reducing America's dependency on oil.[8][15]
In 2024 He consulted to Israeli families of hostages held by Hamas, meeting them in Washington DC and organizing for them to meet with Qateri officials.[16]
In 2025 he was named as being involved in Israeli Qatargate scandal, allegedly transferring money from Qatar to Israeli prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesperson Eli Feldstein via businessman Gil Birger.[17][2][18][3][19][20][21]
Personal life
[edit]Footlik has three daughters and lives in suburban Washington, DC.
He is a member of the Democratic Party.[22]
Rederences
[edit]- ^ "Book Jay Footlik For Celebrity Endorsement | Appearance". PartyMap. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ a b ToI Staff. "Israeli businessman says he moved cash from Qatari lobbyist to PM's aide Feldstein". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ a b c "Who is Jay Footlik, the US lobbyist in 'Qatargate?' - explainer". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
- ^ Group, Casey Tolan | Bay Area News (2019-06-21). "Joe Biden refunds campaign donations from lobbyist for Qatar, Morocco". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ a b Lippman, Daniel; Oprysko, Caitlin (2024-01-31). "Advisers to families of hostages held in Gaza backed by Qatari funding". POLITICO. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ a b c d e f Tribune, Chicago (1995-09-25). "SKOKIE NATIVE ENJOYING ROLE AS CLINTON AIDE". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ "niles north high school famous alumni". www.kbspas.com. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ a b c d e "People - Jay Footlik". gpa - global policy associates. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ Isaacson, Gila (2025-03-31). "QATAR-GATE: Who is Jay Footlik?". JFeed. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
- ^ "11 Former White House Jewish Liaisons: Trump Doesn't Understand anti-Semitism". Jewish Telegraphic Agency / Haaretz. August 19, 2017. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
- ^ "Queen Esther and a Prayer Book: Jewish Involvement in Monicagate". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ "'Promised to work for the American public 24/6': Former advisor eulogizes Senator Joe Lieberman". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2024-03-28. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ Davis, Andrew (2008-01-30). "Election 2008: Jay Footlik-Seeking New Direction in the 10th District". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
- ^ "David J. Kalbfleisch for U.S. House, IL-10 in 2010". Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2014-02-16.
- ^ "Board of Directors – Middle East Investment Initiative". Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ "Gaza hostages' families consulted by Qatari-funded entities - report". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2024-02-01. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ i24NEWS (2025-03-19). "Qatar-gate: Israeli businessman admits transferring money to Netanyahu aide". i24NEWS. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "'Qatargate': Businessman admits passing funds from Qatar lobbyist to Feldstein". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2025-03-19. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
- ^ "Who is Jay Footlik, the US lobbyist in 'Qatargate?' - explainer". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
- ^ Bandel, Netael (2025-04-01). "Qatargate affair: Netanyahu aides accused of spreading paid Qatari propaganda during war". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2025-04-04.
- ^ "How Jay Footlik Went From Democratic Insider to Player in Netanyahu's Dirty Wartime Scandal". Haaretz. 25 Mar 2025.
- ^ "LittleSis: Jay K Footlik". littlesis.org. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
External links
[edit]Jay Footlik at IMDb
