Samuel Harvey Clovis Jr. (born September 18, 1949)[1] is a former United States Air Force officer, talk radio host, and political figure.

[5] He graduated from Buhler High School in 1967[6] and went on to attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science.

[5] In 2005 he began working at Morningside College[1] in Sioux City, Iowa, as a professor,[9][2] teaching classes on business, management and public policy.

Clovis then hired Matthew Whitaker, also an unsuccessful Republican Senate primary candidate, to chair his campaign for state treasurer.

[17] Clovis endorsed Donald Trump the next day, August 25, with an introduction at a rally held in Dubuque, Iowa.

[10] After Trump took office in January 2017, he appointed Clovis as senior White House adviser to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

[20] A statute requires that nominees for the position be chosen from among "distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics.

[21][22] According to court records, Papadopoulos had been recruited to join Trump's foreign policy advisor team in early March 2016 by a "campaign supervisor" later identified as Clovis.

[23] Over the next few months, Papadopoulos made repeated but unsuccessful attempts to arrange meetings or contacts between Russian officials and Trump or his campaign representatives.

Clovis was identified as a campaign supervisor who encouraged Papadopoulos to travel to Russia and meet Russian officials to build relations with the Kremlin.

[21][22] It was reported that Clovis has spoken to investigators with the special prosecutor's office and has testified before the federal grand jury looking into the matter.

On November 2, 2017, Clovis withdrew from consideration for the appointment for Under Secretary of Agriculture after he was linked to the special counsel investigation.

[4] In June 2019, the Republican and Democratic leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee made a criminal referral to federal prosecutors regarding their belief that Clovis mislead them in his official testimony.

"[28] In 2011, Clovis said that schools were indoctrinating students with concepts that go against the ideals of the founding of the United States, such as "environmentalism", "racism", "feminism" and "pacifism".