# George Demos

George Demos is a former United States Securities and Exchange Commission prosecutor, and was a candidate for the Republican nomination for New York's 1st congressional district on New York State's Long Island. He is currently a partner at DLA Piper and an adjunct law professor at University of California at Davis Law School.

## Early life

Demos is the grandson of immigrants. His mother was a public school teacher, and his father was an attorney in private practice. Demos grew up in New York City where he attended Trinity School.
Demos received his B.A. from Columbia University, majoring in political science, and his J.D. from Fordham Law School.

## Career
### Legal Career

Demos prosecuted white collar fraud as a prosecutor at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) between 2002 and 2009. Demos is a partner at DLA Piper and an adjunct law professor at University of California at Davis Law School, where he has taught Corporate and White Collar Crime and Presidential Powers.
Demos has also published legal analysis of the cases involving former President Donald Trump. In an April 2024 column regarding the "hush money" case against the former president, Demos wrote that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg "ignored a panoply of evidentiary matters that severely undermine the credibility of this prosecution." In a May 2024 column, Demos published a detailed rebuke of Bragg's conduct and tactics in the case against President Donald Trump. In June 2024, Demos asserted that District Attorney Bragg's closing argument may have resulted in Trump being convicted of overpaying his taxes.

### Politics

Demos vied in 2010 for the Republican nomination to compete for the congressional seat of Democrat Tim Bishop on Long Island in New York State in the November 2010 election, coming in second in the primary. His three-way primary included Christopher Nixon Cox, the grandson of President Richard Nixon and Randy Altschuler, a businessman.
In the days leading up to the primary, Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh did a "six-minute radio riff in support of George Demos in NY-1, calling the former SEC attorney the only conservative in the race." Limbaugh praised Demos and noted "the Republican establishment had turned on him [Demos]." In the September 2010 primary, Altschuler finished first with 45 percent of the vote, Demos had 30 percent, and Cox was third with 24 percent.
Demos announced another run for Congress Monday, August 8, 2011. In 2012 Demos wrote a letter to Donald Trump stating "your passion and dedication to defending (America's) interests is unequaled" and asking him to speak out against the outsourcing of American jobs to India." Demos withdrew from the race May 25, 2012.
On October 6, 2013, he announced he would seek the Republican nomination to run against Congressman Tim Bishop. On June 24, 2014 he lost the primary election to New York State Senator Lee Zeldin.

## Ground Zero Church Advocacy

In August 2010, Demos held a press conference at Ground Zero with former New York Governor George Pataki to object to the proposed construction of the Park51 Islamic community center near Ground Zero. He said that the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the only religious structure destroyed in the 9/11 attacks, should be rebuilt before moving forward on building an Islamic community center in the area, and called for an investigation into the center's financing.
In September 2011, Demos called on Governor Andrew Cuomo to fire Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Director Christopher Ward for "stonewalling" the church's reconstruction. On October 14, 2011, ten years after the church was destroyed in the 9/11 terror attacks, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese signed an agreement with the Port Authority for the reconstruction of the church.

## Personal life

Demos is married to Chrysa Tsakopoulos, daughter of the real estate developer Angelo Tsakopoulos. His sister-in-law, Eleni Kounalakis, is the current Lieutenant Governor of California. In 2020 George and Chrysa Demos made a $2 million donation to UC Davis.