George Papadopoulos told federal investigators he did not inform anyone on the Trump campaign about a mysterious professor’s claim in April 2016 that Russians had “thousands” of Hillary Clinton emails, according to court documents submitted on Friday night.
That’s just one of several new details that Papadopoulos’s lawyers revealed in the filing, which seeks probation for the former Trump campaign aide for lying about his contacts with Russians.
The lawyers also said that Papadpoulos claims that during a March 31, 2016, meeting of the Trump campaign’s national security team, then presidential candidate Donald Trump “approved” of Papadopoulos’ suggestion of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Jeff Sessions, who now serves as attorney general, “appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it.”
Other attendees at the meeting, including former Pentagon spokesman J.D. Gordon, have said that Sessions shut down Papadopoulos’ suggestion.
Papadopoulos, 30, pleaded guilty in the special counsel’s investigation on Oct. 5, 2017. He faces sentencing on Sept. 7. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Since the surprise announcement of his indictment and guilty plea on Oct. 30, 2017, the short-term, volunteer Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos has often been described as a central figure in the Trump-Russia affair. Now, a new court filing from special counsel Robert Mueller suggests Papadopoulos was a bit player all along.
Mueller never charged Papadopoulos with any crime involving a conspiracy, or collusion, between the Trump campaign and Russia to fix the 2016 election. Instead, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to one count of lying to the FBI. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 7.
In preparation, Mueller’s office on Friday submitted a memorandum to U.S. District Court in Washington outlining the special counsel’s position on sentencing. Although Mueller is adamant that Papadopoulos serve some time in jail — the range for the offense is between zero and six months — the special counsel suggested the final sentence should be just 30 days. As justification, Mueller cited the 30-day sentence given to Alex van der Zwaan, one of the small-time figures caught up in the Trump-Russia probe.
It wasn’t the stuff of a “conspiracy against the United States” that Mueller cheerleaders like to cite, nor even of a significant player in the Trump-Russia matter.
Still, Mueller stressed that it was serious business. “The defendant knew the questions he was asked by the FBI were important, and he knew his answers were false at the time he gave them,” Mueller wrote. “The nature and the circumstances of the offense warrant a sentence of incarceration.” – READ MORE
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