Columbia attorney resigns as Slovenia ambassador to ‘help America’ in upcoming election
_fitted.jpeg "Jamie Linder Harpootlian was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be ambassador to Slovenia.")
Jamie Harpootlian, the wife of an outgoing state senator, resigned from her post as U.S. ambassador to Slovenia effective on July 31, a role she held for two-and-a-half years. She returned to the U.S. Wednesday.
Harpootlian, who is an attorney, said being an ambassador was a great job, but she wanted to get back to the U.S. for the upcoming election.
“I wanted to do my part to help America in the upcoming election,” Harpootlian said in a brief interview Thursday.
She also said she had a “good run” as ambassador, but she also missed her husband, state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland.
“It was difficult to serve that long without him by my side,” Jamie Harpootlian said.
President Joe Biden nominated her to the ambassadorship in July 2021. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in December 2021.
The Harpootlians were Biden supporters leading up to the 2020 Democratic Presidential Primary in South Carolina. In May 2019, the Harpootlians held a fundraiser for Biden, which raised $115,000. The couple also held a fundraiser in 2014 featuring the then vice president.
The country she departed was part a high-profile prisoner swap this week.
The day after she returned from Slovenia, the U.S. and Russia carried out a prisoner swap that included the return of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan.
To help make that swap happen, Slovenia contributed two convicted Russian spies to the deal.
Jamie Harpootlian told The State she could not disclose details of the negotiations.
“I was aware of the potential for something to be arranged and everyone was working very hard to make it work,” Jamie Harpootlian said. “It took the effort of many people. I am very glad the administration had such great success in what they achieved and there were a lot of moving parts. And I’m very proud of what Slovenia was able to do, and the role they played in it was very important.”
This story was originally published August 2, 2024 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Columbia attorney resigns as Slovenia ambassador to ‘help America’ in upcoming election."
