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Who is Julia Varvaro, what is ‘sugar dating’? 5 things about DHS counterterror official caught in scandal
Julia Varvaro, Deputy Assistant Homeland Security Secretary for Counterterrorism, has been accused of ‘sugar dating’ as per a Daily Mail article.
Julia Varvaro, Deputy Assistant Homeland Security Secretary (DHS) for Counterterrorism, has been accused of ‘sugar dating’. The 29-year-old's actions have reportedly triggered a watchdog probe after her ex-boyfriend claimed she used him as a ‘sugar daddy’ to fund her expensive lifestyle.
Varvaro has now been put on leave. “Julia Varvaro is on administrative leave as a result of the investigation and she is no longer serving in her capacity as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at DHS,” a spokesperson tolf the Daily Mail.
As per a report from the Mail, divorced business executive identified as Robert B., matched with Varvaro on Hinge and they got together, with the relationship ending in an official complaint to the DHS. Robert B claimed he spent around $40,000 on her — funding trips to places like Italy, San Diego, Aruba and South Carolina, during the three months they were together.
“Everywhere we went, she’d always order the most expensive things on the menu, like the Wagyu premier cut of Japanese beef,” the Mail reported him say. The publication also reported that Varvaro had a profile on Seeking.com, under the name Alessia. The site is known to be used by young, attractive singles who search for older, wealthier partners to help fund their lifestyles.
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Varvaro, meanwhile, junked her ex-boyfriend's claims against her and said “If we made a story about every failed short relationship in DC, this town would implode. I thought it was a great relationship until we just didn’t work, and that was it.” Amid the controversy, here's all you need to know about Julia Varvaro.
Who is Julia Varvaro: 5 things to know
- Varvaro is a PhD, her LinkedIn profile notes. She researched on “analyzing broadcasting behaviors of lone-actor terrorists and active shooters radicalized by propaganda from an investigative psychology perspective.”
- Apart from the PhD, Varvaro got her Master's degree from St John's University as well. She finished her Bachelor of Science and had a major in business management from the same place.
- Before her DHS gig, Varvaro was an adjunct professor at St John's. She also worked as a program analyst for FEMA, and a corporate security analyst for First Republic Bank.
- Varvaro is a Long Island native and her father was with the New York Police Department, who helped in the aftermath of 9/11. Remembering the time, Varvaro said “I remember that day very vividly. Thank God my father, Anthony Varvaro, was fine and was able to assist with the clean-up for years after the attack. But it really impacted my dedication to counterterrorism and devotion to ensuring a brutal event like that never happens again,” as per her alma mater.
- Varvaro also interned with the Secret Service in the agency’s Melville, NY, field office from August 2015 to September 2016, at which time she was at St John's. It was all with the aim of studying counterterrorism, she had said at the time.
What is 'sugar dating'?
‘Sugar dating’ is a transactional relationship, where the younger person is the ‘sugar baby’ who gets financial support, gifts, and more from the older person of the ‘sugar daddy’ or ‘sugar momma’ in return for intimacy or companionship.
As per a Springer article, ‘sugar dating’ is “the exchange of companion related services (sexual or non-sexual) for compensation.”
