Michael Caputo facts for kids

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For the American football player, see Michael Caputo (American football). For the West Virginia politician, see Mike Caputo.

Quick facts for kids Michael Caputo


Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Public Affairs
In office April 16, 2020 – January 20, 2021
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Ryan Murphy (acting)
Succeeded by	Mark Weber (acting)

Personal details
Born	Michael Raymon Caputo (1962-03-24) March 24, 1962 (age 63) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Education	University at Buffalo (BA)

Michael Caputo, born on March 24, 1962, is an American political strategist. This means he helps politicians plan their campaigns and communicate with the public. He has worked for several important government leaders.

He helped with public relations for presidents like Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Later, he moved to Russia and advised Boris Yeltsin. He also worked to improve the public image of Vladimir Putin in the U.S. He then returned to the U.S. and started his own public relations company.

Caputo also worked on the presidential campaign for Donald Trump in 2016. In 2020, he became a top spokesperson for the United States Department of Health and Human Services. During this time, he was involved in discussions about how scientific reports on COVID-19 were shared with the public. He later took a medical leave from his role.

Early Life and Education
Political Career Highlights
Investigation
Personal Life
See also

Early Life and Education

Michael Caputo was born in 1962 in Buffalo, New York. He spent most of his early years in the area known as the Southtowns. After high school, he joined the United States Army. He worked in public relations while serving in Hawaii.

In 1983, after leaving the Army, he began studying at the University at Buffalo. During this time, he worked for Republican politicians, including Congressman Jack Kemp. He was also mentored by Roger Stone, a well-known political advisor. Stone taught him that political campaigns could be made more interesting and entertaining for the public.

Political Career Highlights

Working for Presidents

During the Reagan Administration, Caputo helped support the president's plans in Central America. He worked on public relations efforts in both South America and Central America. After this, he worked for the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association.

He then joined President George H. W. Bush's campaign for the 1992 United States presidential election. He was in charge of media services for the campaign.

Advising in Russia and Ukraine

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Caputo moved to Russia in 1994. He became an advisor to Boris Yeltsin in 1995. He worked with the United States Agency for International Development in this role. He also led a company called The Florence Group from 1994 to 1999. He said he played a key role in helping Boris Yeltsin win his second term as president of Russia.

In 2000, Caputo was hired by Gazprom-Media, a company based in Moscow. He worked for Russian leader Vladimir Putin. His job was to improve Putin's public image, especially in the U.S. He returned to the U.S. in late 2000.

After coming back to the U.S., Caputo started his own company, Michael Caputo Public Relations. In 2007, he moved to Ukraine to advise a politician's campaign for parliament.

Campaign for New York Governor

Caputo worked as the campaign manager for Carl Paladino in his 2010 campaign for governor of New York. Paladino was a real estate businessman who was not very well known at the time. The New York Times newspaper wrote that Caputo's energetic and direct campaign style helped Paladino get attention.

Paladino's campaign was supported by the Tea Party movement. Caputo described their campaign as being like "junkyard dogs, not pedigreed poodles." He meant they were tough and didn't hide anything. Paladino said he hired Caputo because he needed someone who could quickly respond to challenges.

Work with Donald Trump

In 2014, Donald Trump hired Caputo to help him try to buy the Buffalo Bills football team. Caputo created a group called "12th Man Thunder" (later renamed "Bills Fan Thunder"). This group worked to gather support for Trump's bid.

When Trump's bid was not successful, Caputo's group worked against other potential buyers, like Jon Bon Jovi. Although the group created a lot of public discussion, the team was eventually bought by Terrence Pegula.

In 2016, Caputo's company had offices in East Aurora, New York, Miami Beach, Florida, and Moscow, Russia. During the 2016 New York Republican primary, Caputo became a political advisor to Trump. He helped Trump win the primary election in New York. He worked with his former employer, Carl Paladino, to support Trump. Caputo was in charge of communications for Trump's campaign in New York.

Caputo was a senior advisor for Trump's political efforts from November 2015 to June 2016. He left the campaign in June 2016.

After the 2016 Election

After Trump was elected president, Caputo stayed in touch with people in the Trump administration. In 2017, when there were news reports about information being leaked from the Trump Administration, Caputo said these leaks were caused by people who were against Trump.

In early 2020, during President Trump's impeachment, Caputo wrote a book called The Ukraine Hoax. He also made a documentary with the same name, which was shown on a TV channel that supported Trump.

Role in the Trump Administration

In April 2020, Michael Caputo was appointed as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. This made him the main spokesperson for the department. He took on this role even though he did not have a medical or scientific background.

According to a report in September 2020, Caputo and other political appointees tried to change or delay scientific reports about COVID-19 from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These changes were reportedly made if the reports seemed to go against what President Trump was saying publicly.

Caputo was also involved in planning a large advertising campaign for the HHS. This campaign, which aimed to "defeat despair" about COVID-19, planned to show video interviews with administration officials and celebrities. However, the campaign faced many problems, including disagreements from other HHS officials and a lack of interest from celebrities.

On September 13, 2020, Caputo made a video on his personal Facebook page. In the video, he claimed that CDC scientists were working against Trump. The next day, his hometown newspaper, The Buffalo News, called for him to be removed from his position. On September 15, Caputo apologized to HHS staff. The next day, he announced he was taking a 60-day medical leave from his job. He never returned to work.

Two days after Caputo went on leave, the CDC changed a statement it had made earlier. The earlier statement said that people who had been near someone with coronavirus but showed no symptoms did not need to be tested. This statement had been pushed through by HHS leadership and the White House, even though scientists at the CDC disagreed.

Investigation

Because of his work on the Trump campaign and his past work in Russia, Caputo was contacted by the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. This happened on May 9, 2017, as part of their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election. The committee asked Caputo to be interviewed and to provide documents related to their investigation.

Caputo worked with the House Intelligence Committee to answer their questions. He stated on social media that he had no ties to Russia while working on the Trump campaign. He told the committee that he only talked about Russia with President Trump once, in 2013, during a dinner conversation.

Caputo hired a lawyer, Dennis Vacco, to represent him during the investigation. He later said he used money saved for his children's college education to pay his lawyer.

Personal Life

While working in Russia in the 1990s, Caputo married a Russian student who was studying astrophysics. Their marriage later ended in divorce. In 2000, Caputo became a Catholic, saying this change helped him find peace. In 2007, while advising in Kyiv, Ukraine, he met Maryna Ponomarenko, who became his second wife.

On September 24, 2020, a spokesperson for Caputo's family announced that he had been diagnosed with cancer. The cancer started in his throat and had spread to his neck and head.