Editing Elliott Abrams (section)

==Career==
[[File:President Ronald Reagan Meeting with Elliott Abrams About Trip to Central America with John Whitehead.jpg|thumb|right|Abrams and [[John C. Whitehead|John Whitehead]] meet with [[President of the United States|President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1986]]

===Assistant Secretary of State, 1980s===
Abrams first came to national prominence when he served as [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan's]] Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in the early 1980s and later as Assistant Secretary for Inter-American Affairs. His nomination to Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs was unanimously approved by the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] on November 17, 1981.<ref name="brite">{{cite journal|last=Bite|first=Vita|date=November 24, 1982|title=Human Rights and U.S. Foreign Policy: Issue Brief IB81125|journal=Congressiokal Researce Service Major Issues System|publisher=Library of Congress|pages=5–6|url= https://digital.library.unt.edu/govdocs/crs//data/1982/upl-meta-crs-8859/IB81125_1982Nov24.pdf?PHPSESSID=59cb7309244ccd0ecddc8ba98158d482|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref> Abrams was Reagan's second choice for the position; his first nominee, [[Ernest W. Lefever]], had been rejected by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 5, 1981.<ref name="brite" />

During his time in the post, Abrams clashed regularly with church groups and human rights organizations, including [[Human Rights Watch]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Back in Political Forefront: Iran-Contra Figure Plays Key Role on Mideast|last=Dobbs|first=Michael|date=May 27, 2003|newspaper=Washington Post|page=A01<!-- |article no longer available on line 2009-11-16 -->}}</ref> According to an article in ''[[The Washington Post]]'', in a 1984 appearance on the program ''[[Nightline (US news program)|Nightline]]'', Abrams clashed with [[Aryeh Neier]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.soros.org/about/bios/b_neier |title=Aryeh Neier |access-date=2007-05-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070513072854/http://www.soros.org/about/bios/b_neier |archive-date=2007-05-13 }}</ref> the executive director of Human Rights Watch<ref>{{cite journal |last=Neier |first=Aryeh|date=November 2, 2006|title=The Attack on Human Rights Watch|volume=53|issue=57|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/19500|journal=[[The New York Review of Books]]}}</ref> and with the leader of [[Amnesty International]], over the Reagan administration's foreign policies. They accused him of covering up atrocities committed by the military forces of U.S.-backed governments, including those in [[El Salvador]], [[Honduras]], and [[Guatemala]], and the rebel [[Contra (guerrillas)|Contras]] in [[Nicaragua]]. Abrams accused critics of the Reagan administration's foreign policy towards Latin America of being "Un-American" and "unpatriotic."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/executivesecrets00daug_0|url-access=registration|title=Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency|last=Daugherty|first=William|date=2004|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813123349|page=[https://archive.org/details/executivesecrets00daug_0/page/254 254]|language=en}}</ref>

In an October 1981 memo, weeks prior to his confirmation in the Senate, Abrams asserted, "human rights is at the core of our foreign policy."<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Jacoby|first=Tamar|date=1986|title=The Reagan Turnaround on Human Rights|journal=Foreign Affairs|language=en|volume=64|issue=5|pages=1066–1086|doi=10.2307/20042781|jstor=20042781}}</ref> Critics say that Abrams and the Reagan administration misappropriated the term human rights, with Tamar Jacoby writing in 1986, "in a period that more or less coincided with Abrams' tenure as assistant secretary of state for human rights, the White House endeavored to appropriate the banner of human rights for itself to use it in battle not only against communist regimes but also, in a more defensive way, against domestic opponents of its human rights policy."<ref name=":3" /> The Lawyers Committee, Americas Watch and Helsinki Watch wrote a report in 1985, charging that Abrams had "developed and articulated a human rights ideology which complements and justifies Administration policies" and undermined the purpose of the human rights bureau in the State Department.<ref name=":3" />

According to American University political scientist [[William M. LeoGrande]],<ref name=":4" /> <blockquote>Communist governments were the worst human rights violators in the world, Abrams believed, so virtually anything done to prevent Communists from coming to power (or to overthrow them) was justifiable on human rights grounds. This theory fit neatly into the Cold War presumptions that framed Reagan's foreign policy and allowed the administration to rationalize supporting murderous regimes so long as they were anti-Communists. In practice, it was little different from Henry Kissinger's realpolitik that discounted human rights issues entirely.</blockquote> Abrams was generally considered a skilled and influential bureaucrat in the human rights bureau.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Maynard|first=Edwin S.|date=1989|title=The Bureaucracy and Implementation of US Human Rights Policy|journal=Human Rights Quarterly|volume=11|issue=2|pages=175–248|doi=10.2307/761957|jstor=761957}}</ref>

==== Guatemala ====
As Assistant Secretary of State, Abrams advocated for aid to Guatemala under then dictator [[Efraín Ríos Montt]], erroneously stating in 1983 that his reign had "brought considerable progress" on human rights.<ref name="Malkin"/> Ríos Montt came to power via a coup in 1982, overcoming the forces of General [[Fernando Romeo Lucas García]]. Thirty years later, Ríos Montt was found guilty of overseeing a campaign of [[Guatemalan genocide#Genocide under Ríos Montt|mass murder and torture of indigenous people]], [[genocide]], in Guatemala. Ríos Montt, who claimed he had no operational control of the forces involved, was convicted of genocide against the [[Maya peoples|Maya]]-[[Ixil people|Ixil]] population.<ref name="Malkin">{{cite news |first=Elisabeth |last=Malkin |title=Trial on Guatemalan Civil War Carnage Leaves Out U.S. Role |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/17/world/americas/trial-on-guatemalan-civil-war-carnage-leaves-out-us-role.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 May 2013}}</ref>

==== El Salvador ====
Abrams frequently defended the [[human rights in El Salvador|human rights record of the El Salvador government]] and attacked human rights groups as communist sympathizers when they criticized the El Salvador government.<ref name=":4" /> In early 1982, when reports of the [[El Mozote massacre]] of hundreds of civilians by the military in El Salvador began appearing in U.S. media, Abrams told a Senate committee that the reported number of deaths at El Mozote "was not credible," reasoning that the reported number of deaths was greater than the likely population, and that there were survivors. He said that "it appears to be an incident that is at least being significantly misused, at the very best, by the guerrillas."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.markdanner.com/articles/show/the_truth_of_el_mozote |title=The Truth of El Mozote |last=Danner |first=Mark |date=December 3, 1993 |magazine=The New Yorker |pages=4, 50–50 |access-date=November 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115135836/http://www.markdanner.com/articles/show/the_truth_of_el_mozote |archive-date=November 15, 2012 }}</ref> The massacre had come at a time when the Reagan administration was attempting to bolster the [[human rights]] image of the Salvadoran military. Abrams implied that reports of a massacre were simply [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front|FMLN]] propaganda and denounced U.S. investigative reports of the massacre as misleading. In March 1993, the [[Salvadoran Truth Commission]] reported that over 500 civilians were "deliberately and systematically" executed in El Mozote in December 1981 by forces affiliated with the Salvadoran government.<ref>{{cite book|last=Whitfield|first=Teresa|title=Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuría and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador|publisher=Temple University Press|location=Philadelphia|year=1994|page=389|isbn=978-1-56639-253-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qv9o4qoOnFEC&pg=PA389}}</ref> A 1992 Human Rights Watch report criticized Abrams for downplaying the massacre.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Forrest |first1=Jack |title=Biden nominates controversial former Trump-appointee to Public Diplomacy Commission |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/03/politics/elliott-abrams-public-diplomacy-nomination/index.html |website=CNN |access-date=4 July 2023 |language=en |date=3 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The massacre at El Mozote: the need to remember |url=https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/pdfs/e/elsalvdr/elsalv923.pdf |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=4 July 2023 |date=4 March 1992}}</ref>

Also in 1993, documentation emerged suggesting that some Reagan administration officials could have known about El Mozote and other human rights violations from the beginning.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/21/world/how-us-actions-helped-hide-salvador-human-rights-abuses.html|title=How U.S. Actions Helped Hide Salvador Human Rights Abuses|last=Krauss|first=Clifford|date=March 21, 1993|work=New York Times<!-- |access-date=2009-11-16 -->}}</ref> However, in July 1993, an investigation commissioned by Clinton Secretary of State [[Warren Christopher]] into the State Department's "activities and conduct" with regard to human rights in El Salvador during the Reagan years found that, despite U.S. funding of the Salvadoran government that committed the massacre at El Mozote, individual U.S. personnel "performed creditably and occasionally with personal bravery in advancing human rights in El Salvador."<ref>{{cite book|last=Whitfield|first=Teresa|title=Paying the Price|pages=389–390|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qv9o4qoOnFEC&pg=PA389|publisher=Temple University Press|isbn=978-1-56639-253-2|date=1994-11-09}}</ref> Abrams said in 2001 that Washington's policy in El Salvador was a "fabulous achievement."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010702/corn|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120915081355/http://www.thenation.com/doc/20010702/corn|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 15, 2012|title=Elliott Abrams: It's Back!|last=Corn|first=David|date=June 1, 2001|work=The Nation|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref> In 2019 he said that the "fabulous achievement" was that El Salvador "has been a [[democracy]]".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/2/15/18225109/elliott-abrams-ilhan-omar-venezuela|title=The fight between Ilhan Omar and Elliott Abrams, Trump's Venezuela envoy, explained|author=Zack Beauchamp|newspaper=Vox|date=Feb 15, 2019}}</ref> In a 1998 interview, Abrams remarked, "While it was important to us to promote the cause of human rights in Central America it was more important to prevent a communist takeover in El Salvador."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hartmann|first=Hauke|date=2001|title=US Human Rights Policy under Carter and Reagan, 1977-1981|journal=Human Rights Quarterly|language=en|volume=23|issue=2|pages=402–430|doi=10.1353/hrq.2001.0017|s2cid=143934287|issn=1085-794X}}</ref>

====Nicaragua====
{{See also|Nicaragua v. United States}}
When Congress shut down funding for the [[Contras]]' efforts to overthrow Nicaragua's Sandinista government with the 1982 [[Boland Amendment]], members of the Reagan administration began looking for other avenues for funding the group.<ref>National Security Council internal memorandum, "Options and Legislative Strategy for Renewing Aid to the Nicaraguan Resistance". January 31, 1985. Declassified under [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|FOIA]]</ref> Congress opened a couple of such avenues when it modified the Boland Amendment for fiscal year 1986 by approving $27 million in direct aid to the Contras and allowing the administration to legally solicit funds for the Contras from foreign governments.<ref name="nytimes07-10-87">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/07/10/world/iran-contra-hearings-boland-amendments-what-they-provided.html|title=Iran-Contra Hearings; Boland Amendments: What They Provided|date=July 10, 1987|work=New York Times|access-date=2009-11-16}}</ref> Neither the direct aid, nor any foreign contributions, could be used to purchase weapons.<ref name="nytimes07-10-87"/>

Guided by the new provisions of the modified Boland Amendment, Abrams flew to [[London]] in August 1986 and met secretly with Bruneian defense minister General Ibnu to solicit a $10-million contribution from the Sultan of [[Brunei]].<ref name="finalreportch25">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm|title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel For Iran/Contra Matters Vol. I: Investigations and Prosecutions|last=Walsh|first=Lawrence E.|date=August 4, 1993|work=Chapter 25|publisher=U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Abrams|first=Elliott|title=Undue Process: A Story of How Political Differences Are Turned into Crimes|publisher=[[Free Press (publisher)|The Free Press]]|year=1993|pages=[https://archive.org/details/undueprocessstor00abra/page/89 89]|isbn=978-0-02-900167-7|url=https://archive.org/details/undueprocessstor00abra/page/89}}</ref> Ultimately, the Contras never received this money because a clerical error in [[Oliver North]]'s office (a mistyped account number) sent the Bruneian money to the wrong Swiss bank account.<ref name="finalreportch25"/>

=== Iran-Contra affair and convictions ===
{{See also|Foreign interventions by the United States|United States involvement in regime change in Latin America}}
In October 1986, [[Corporate Air Services HPF821|a plane]] flown by Eugene Hasenfus, carrying military equipment intended for the Contras, a right-wing [[Contra War|rebel group fighting]] against the socialist Sandinista government of Nicaragua, was shot down over Nicaragua.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/foreigners-on-americas-death-rows/A9DCD50436A7085B7B8C39E349BBB63D |title=Foreigners on America's Death Rows by John Quigley |last=Quigley |first=John |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge Core |pages=50–51 |language=en |access-date=2019-02-15 |doi=10.1017/9781108552448 |isbn=9781108552448}}</ref> The Reagan administration publicly denied that Hasenfus sought to arm the Contras as part of a US government mission.<ref name=":5" /> However, the State Department was centrally involved in the covert plan to fund the Contras, which violated congressional legislation.<ref name=":5" /> In congressional testimony in October 1986, Abrams repeatedly and categorically denied that the US government was involved in arming the Contras.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/41082|title=Intimate Ties, Bitter Struggles: The United States and Latin America Since 1945|last=Mcpherson|first=Alan|date=2011|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|isbn=9781597973939|pages=103|language=en}}</ref> However, at the time, Abrams knew that "[[Oliver North|[Oliver] North]] was encouraging, coordinating and directing the activities of the contra-resupply operation and that North was in contact with the private citizens who were behind the lethal resupply fights."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_25.htm|title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters|first=Lawrence|last=Walsh|date=1993}}</ref>

During investigation of the [[Iran-Contra Affair]], [[Lawrence Walsh]], the [[Independent Counsel]] tasked with investigating the case, prepared multiple felony counts against Abrams.<ref name="finalreportch25" /> In 1991, Abrams admitted that he knew more than he acknowledged in his congressional testimony, cooperated with Walsh and entered into a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of withholding information from Congress.<ref name="finalreportsummary">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/summpros.htm|title=Final Report of the Independent Counsel For Iran/Contra Matters Vol. I: Investigations and Prosecutions|last=Walsh|first=Lawrence E.|date=August 4, 1993|work=Summary of Prosecutions|publisher=U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref> For failing to cooperate, he would have faced felony charges of perjury over his congressional testimony.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.uncpress.org/book/9780807848579/our-own-backyard|title=Our Own Backyard|last=Leogrande|first=William M.|website=University of North Carolina Press|pages=479–480|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-15}}</ref> He was sentenced to a $50 fine, probation for two years, and 100 hours of community service. Abrams was pardoned by President [[George H. W. Bush]] in December 1992.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Bush Mideast Adviser Elliott Abrams Named U.S. Special Envoy for Venezuela |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-former-bush-mideast-adviser-named-u-s-special-envoy-for-venezuela-1.6873578 |work=Haaretz |date=January 26, 2019}}</ref>

In 1997, Abrams was publicly sanctioned by the District of Columbia Bar for giving false testimony to Congress about the Iran-Contra affair. Although several of the court's judges recommended disbarment, the court ultimately declined to disbar Abrams over questions related to the effect of Abrams' presidential pardon for his prior criminal conduct.<ref>{{cite web |title=In re Elliott Abrams |url=https://caselaw.findlaw.com/dc-court-of-appeals/1280741.html |publisher=Dist. of Columbia Ct. App. No. 91-BG-1518 |access-date=13 February 2019}}</ref>

=== Bush administration ===
President [[George W. Bush]] appointed Abrams to the post of Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations at the National Security Council on June 25, 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2001/06/20010628-12.html|title=Statement by the Press Secretary|date=June 28, 2001|publisher=The White House|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref> Abrams was appointed special assistant to the President and the NSC's senior director for Near East and North African Affairs on December 2, 2002.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/12/20021202-14.html|title=Statement by the Press Secretary|date=December 2, 2002|publisher=The White House|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref>

Human rights groups and commentators expressed disquiet over his [[White House]] appointment owing to his disreputable conduct and conviction in the Iran–Contra affair investigation and his role in overseeing the Reagan administration's foreign policy in Latin America.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2001c/081001/081001f.htm|title=Appointees Spark Controversy|last=Cooper|first=Linda|author2=Hodge, Jim|date=August 10, 2001|newspaper=National Catholic Reporter|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2001c/081001/081001s.htm|title= Editorial: Appointments Insult Human Rights Cause|date=August 1, 2001|newspaper=National Catholic Reporter|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref>

''[[The Observer]]'' wrote that Abrams had advance knowledge of, and "gave a nod to," the [[Venezuelan coup attempt of 2002]] against [[Hugo Chávez]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,688071,00.html|title=Venezuela coup linked to Bush team|last=Vulliamy|first=Ed|author-link=Ed Vulliamy|date=April 21, 2002|newspaper=The Observer|location=London}}</ref>

[[File:President George W Bush Meeting with Elliott Abrams, JD Crouch, Corry Schiermeyer, and Scott McClellan About Gaza Settlements.jpg|thumb|right|Abrams, [[Jack Dyer Crouch II|JD Crouch]], [[Corry Schiermeyer]], and [[Scott McClellan]] meet with [[President of the United States|President]] [[George W. Bush]] in 2005]]

[[File:Video Teleconference on Burma in Recognition of International Human Rights Day.jpg|thumb|Abrams participates in a video conference on [[Myanmar]] in recognition of [[Human Rights Day]], 2007]]

''[[The Intercept]]'' has reported that Abrams had a key role<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kessler|first=Glenn|date=8 February 2007|title=Rice Denies Seeing Iranian Proposal in '03|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/07/AR2007020702408.html|access-date=10 August 2020|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> in disrupting a peace plan proposed by Iran, right after the U.S. invasion to Iraq in 2003. Abrams' office received this plan by [[fax]]. They should have passed the plan to [[Condoleezza Rice]]. But she never saw it. Later, Abrams's spokesperson was asked about the plan and he said “he had no memory of any such fax.”<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schwarz|first=Jon|date=30 January 2019|title=Elliott Abrams, Trump's Pick to Bring "Democracy" to Venezuela, Has Spent His Life Crushing Democracy|url=https://theintercept.com/2019/01/30/elliott-abrams-venezuela-coup|access-date=10 August 2020|website=[[The Intercept]]}}</ref>

On February 2, 2005, Bush appointed Abrams deputy national security adviser for Global Democracy Strategy,<ref name="pressrelease050202">{{cite web|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050202-10.html |title=Personnel Announcement|date=February 2, 2005|publisher=The White House|access-date=November 16, 2009}}</ref> where he served until the end of his administration on January 20, 2009.<ref name="pressrelease050202" /> Abrams accompanied Condoleezza Rice as a primary adviser on her visits to the Middle East in late July 2006 in the course of discussions relating to the [[2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/washington/10rice.html|title=Rice's Hurdles on Middle East Begin at Home|last=Cooper|first=Helene|author-link=Helene Cooper|date=August 10, 2006|work=New York Times<!-- |access-date=2009-11-16 -->}}</ref>

=== Post-Bush administration ===
On May 16, 2016, Abrams wrote a historical piece in [[The Weekly Standard|''The'' ''Weekly Standard'']]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/when-you-cant-stand-your-candidate/article/2002283|archive-url=https://archive.today/20170210210712/http://www.weeklystandard.com/when-you-cant-stand-your-candidate/article/2002283|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 10, 2017|title=When You Can't Stand Your Candidate|last=Abrams|first=Elliott|date=May 16, 2016|work=Weekly Standard}}</ref> predicting that Donald Trump would "fail colossally" in the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 election]] to which he drew parallels with the [[1972 United States presidential election|1972 election]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Trump's Neocon? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/02/trumps-neocon-elliott-abrams/515784/ |work=The Atlantic |date=February 6, 2017}}</ref>

On December 23, 2016, Abrams, a strong supporter of Israel, criticized [[Barack Obama]] for "undermining Israel's elected government, prevent its action against Iran's nuclear weapons program, and create as much daylight as possible between the United States and Israel." Abrams condemned Obama's decision not to block a UN [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334|resolution]] criticizing [[Israeli settlements|Israeli settlement building]] in the occupied [[Palestinian territories]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.weeklystandard.com/obamas-disgraceful-and-harmful-legacy-on-israel/article/2006041|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170115062332/http://www.weeklystandard.com/obamas-disgraceful-and-harmful-legacy-on-israel/article/2006041|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 15, 2017|title=Obama's Disgraceful and Harmful Legacy on Israel|date=23 December 2016|magazine=[[The Weekly Standard]]|access-date=12 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Elliott Abrams: Obama Feeds Israel to the Jackals |url=https://www.newsweek.com/elliott-abrams-obama-feeds-israel-jackals-536928 |work=Newsweek |date=December 30, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Staunch Israel Supporter Elliott Abrams Leading Nominee for U.S Deputy Secretary of State |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-pro-israel-elliott-abrams-is-frontrunner-for-u-s-deputy-secretary-of-state-1.5495458 |work=Haaretz |date=February 8, 2017}}</ref>

In February 2017, it was reported that Abrams was Secretary of State [[Rex Tillerson]]'s first pick for [[United States Deputy Secretary of State|Deputy Secretary of State]], but that Tillerson was overruled by Trump.<ref name=wp.rejection>{{cite news|title=Trump rejects veteran GOP foreign policy aide Elliott Abrams for State Dept. job|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-rejects-veteran-gop-foreign-policy-aide-elliott-abrams-for-state-department-job/2017/02/10/52e53ce6-efbd-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html|last=Gearan|first=Anne|date=February 10, 2017|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref> Trump aides were supportive of Abrams, but Trump opposed him because of Abrams' opposition during the campaign.<ref name=wp.rejection/>

Abrams is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the [[Council on Foreign Relations]].<ref name="Council on Foreign Relations"/> Additionally, he holds positions on the [[Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf]] (CPSG), Center for Security Policy & National Secretary Advisory Council, Committee for a Free Lebanon, and the [[Project for the New American Century]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Wedel|first=J.R.|title=Shadow Elite|url=https://archive.org/details/shadowelitehowwo0000wede|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=New York: Basic Books}}</ref> He is a member of the [[United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council]] and maintained a CFR blog called "Pressure Points" about U.S. foreign policy and human rights.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|title=Elliott Abrams|url=http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Abrams_Elliott|access-date=12 October 2011}}</ref>

He was on the faculty of Georgetown University.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/02/24/georgetown-gets-10-million-for-holocaust-research-as-jewish-studies-grow-at-catholic-school/|title=Georgetown gets $10 million for Holocaust research as Jewish studies grow at Catholic school|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

=== Trump administration ===
[[File:Elliott Abrams Speaks on Venezuela (45970132725).jpg|thumb|Abrams with Secretary of State [[Mike Pompeo]] in January 2019 ]]
On January 25, 2019, Secretary of State [[Mike Pompeo]] appointed Abrams as the United States' [[Special Representative]] for [[Venezuela]]. This came two days after American recognition of Venezuelan opposition leader [[Juan Guaidó]] as president, thus advocating for [[regime change]] in Venezuela.<ref name=PoliticoJan2019>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/25/elliott-abrams-envoy-venezuela-1128562/|title=Elliott Abrams, prominent D.C. neocon, named special envoy for Venezuela|date=25 January 2019 |publisher=Politico}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://mondediplo.com/2019/03/03venezuela-abrams|title=Return of Elliott Abrams as special envoy on Venezuela, Thirty years a neocon provocateur|last=Alterman|first=Eric|author-link=Eric Alterman|date=March 2019|work=Le Monde Diplomatique|access-date=March 6, 2019}}</ref>

Abrams's career and record on foreign policy was questioned by some opposition members in Congress. For example, in February 2019, Representative [[Ilhan Omar]] of Minnesota questioned whether Abrams was the correct choice for such a role because of his conviction of lying to Congress about his role in the Iran-Contra affair, and his historical support for previous instances of right-wing regime change in Central and South America in the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |last= Bonner|first=Raymond|date=February 15, 2019 |title=What Did Elliott Abrams Have to Do With the El Mozote Massacre?|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/ilhan-omar-elliott-abrams-and-el-mozote-massacre/582889/|work=[[The Atlantic]] |access-date=February 15, 2019|author-link=Raymond Bonner}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|date=February 14, 2019 |title=Ilhan Omar Grills Trump's Venezuela Envoy Elliott Abrams on His Role in US-Backed Genocide in 1980s|url=https://www.democracynow.org/2019/2/14/ilhan_omar_grills_venezuela_envoy_elliott|work=[[Democracy Now!]] |access-date=February 16, 2019}}</ref> Omar particularly criticized Abrams's description of the Reagan administration's "record in El Salvador [as] one of fabulous achievement," in light of the [[El Mozote massacre]], a mass killing of over 800 Salvadorian civilians carried out by US-backed and trained "[[death squad]]s."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schwarz |first=Jon |date=January 30, 2019 |title=Elliott Abrams, Trump's Pick to Bring "Democracy" to Venezuela, Has Spent His Life Crushing Democracy |url=https://theintercept.com/2019/01/30/elliott-abrams-venezuela-coup/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |website=The Intercept |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Alterman |first=Eric |date=2020-01-30 |title=Confirmed: Elliott Abrams's Defense of Mass Murder Was Based on Lies |language=en-US |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/world/elliott-abrams-mozote/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Gies |first=Heather |date=2019-02-15 |title=El Salvador massacre: forensics teams dig for remains as US envoy faces grilling |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/14/el-salvador-massacre-el-mozote |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gugliotta |first1=Guy |last2=Farah |first2=Douglas |date=1993-03-21 |title=12 YEARS OF TORTURED TRUTH ON EL SALVADOR |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/03/21/12-years-of-tortured-truth-on-el-salvador/9432bb6f-fbd0-4b18-b254-29caa919dc98/ |access-date=2023-02-03 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Upon the resignation of [[Brian Hook]], Abrams was selected to succeed him as United States Special Representative for Iran.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Sanger|first1=David E.|last2=Crowley|first2=Michael|date=2020-08-06|title=Iran Envoy Brian Hook, a 'Survivor' on Trump's Team, to Quit|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/us/politics/iran-us-brian-hook.html|access-date=2020-08-06|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Both positions were merged into the US Special Representative for Iran and Venezuela as of September 1, 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/biographies/elliott-abrams/|title=Elliott Abrams|publisher=U.S. Department of State|year=2020|access-date=November 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925064811/https://www.state.gov/biographies/elliott-abrams/|archive-date=September 25, 2020}}</ref>

=== Post-Trump administration ===
In 2021, Abrams founded a new group called the ''Vandenberg Coalition'', named after [[Arthur Vandenberg]], who helped build the foundations for [[NATO]] after [[World War II]]. The coalition involves [[Morgan Ortagus]], a former State Department official, [[Randy Scheunemann]], a neocon [[Lobbying|lobbist]] and former head of the [[Committee for the Liberation of Iraq]], [[Douglas Feith|Doug Feith]], a former Defense Department planner for the [[Iraq War]], and [[Scooter Libby|Lewis “Scooter” Libby]], the former chief of staff to Vice President [[Dick Cheney]].

On 3 July 2023,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2023/07/25/nominations-sent-to-the-senate-115/ | title=Nominations Sent to the Senate | date=July 25, 2023 }}</ref> Abrams was nominated to the [[U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy]] by [[Joe Biden|President Biden]]. He still needs to be confirmed by the Senate before serving on the commission.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Forrest |first1=Jack |title=Biden nominates controversial former Trump-appointee to Public Diplomacy Commission |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/03/politics/elliott-abrams-public-diplomacy-nomination/index.html |access-date=6 July 2023 |work=CNN |date=3 July 2023}}</ref>

Since the [[2023 Hamas attack on Israel|attack on Israel on 7 October 2023]], his focus has been on supporting [[Gaza war|Israel's war in Gaza]], along with the need to extend the war to [[Iran]], acclaiming it is one of the primary financial sponsors of [[Hamas]]. This is despite the fact that President Biden made it clear that there is “no clear evidence” that Iran was involved in the [[2023 Hamas attack on Israel|October 7 Hamas attack on Israel]] – a statement that the Iranian government has also strongly emphasized.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fang |first=Lee |date=2023-10-18 |title=Republican hawks now want a war with Iran |url=https://unherd.com/2023/10/republican-hawks-now-want-a-war-with-iran/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=UnHerd |language=en-GB}}</ref>