Why George Papadopoulos' guilty plea is a much bigger problem for Trump than the Manafort indictment

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/10/30/politics/george-papadopolous-trump-guilty/index.html

 

Even as President Trump was on Twitter insisting that the indictment of former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was meaningless because it involved activities unrelated to Trump or the campaign came news that former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos had pled guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with, wait for it, Russia.

The Manafort news drew the bigger headlines Monday morning -- understandable given his high-profile role at the top of the Trump campaign. But, the Papadopoulos guilty plea -- and the fact that he has been cooperating with the special counsel investigation since his July arrest -- strikes me as significantly more problematic for Trump and his White House in the medium-to-long term.

This paragraph from the FBI's guilty plea agreement with Papadopoulos is incredible:

 

"In truth and in fact, however, and as set forth above, defendant PAPADOPOULOS met the Professor for the first time on or about March 14, 2016, after defendant PAPADOPOULOS had already learned he would be a foreign policy advisor for the Campaign; the Professor showed interest in defendant PAPADOPOULOS only after learning of his role on the Campaign; and the Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS about the Russians possessing" dirt" on then-candidate Clinton in late April 2016, more than a month after defendant PAPADOPOULOS had joined the Campaign."

So, Papadopoulos copped to lying to the FBI about the timing of his contacts with Russians. In his initial interview in January 2017, Papadopoulos was insistent that he had reached out to his foreign contact "The Professor" (amazing!) before he had formally joined the Trump presidential campaign. 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

Who is the professor?

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

The Washington Post has reported (paywall) that Joseph Mifsud, on the staff of Stirling University in Scotland—and, the Post said, also with the London Academy of Diplomacy—is “likely” the professor in question. The Post based its assessment on an email described to the Post in which Papadopoulos reportedly identifies Mifsud.

 

https://qz.com/1115591/the-professor-in-the-george-papadopoulos-case-who-tried-to-connect-trump-to-kremlin-is-probably-joseph-mifsud/

[Jacque67 7,328]

38 minutes ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

Who is the professor?

Who's "Putin's niece"? 

 

There's also a photo of Papadopoulos infront of harrods, a few mins walk from the Ecuadorean embassy...did he meet Assange? Lordy I hope there are tapes!  He tried to collude with Russia using Facebook messenger!

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/whos-who-in-the-george-papadopoulos-court-documents/2017/10/30/e131158c-bdb3-11e7-97d9-bdab5a0ab381_story.html

 

victoria toensing, Sam Clovis's lawyer has confirmed that he is the "campaign supervisor" in the court filing. She's using the "Iowa Nice" defense for why he Sam responded positively to Papadopoulos: it's the new Kevin Spacey I'm gay. He's just a "polite gentleman from Iowa."

[Jacque67 7,328]

And he's up and tweeting already!

 

to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!

9 minutes ago ·  Twitter

 

(Donald Trump)

[Jacque67 7,328]

That's his defence despite all the evidence and emails to the contrary. Hannity, who is so shaken he called Hillary President Clinton last night was pushing this story that George is just a young kid, as Caputo this morning on Fox. Papadopoulos was a top adviser and worked for at least 7 months for the Trump campaign. Went to Israel for Trump and talked to the Russian media for Trump. Good job George has been wearing wires, and his lawyers are looking forward to giving his side of events at a later date.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Looking forward to the day Diaper Don is referred to as a low-level staffer, they barely knew. 

 

clovis told George Papadopoulos to accept a trip to Russia, June 2016. He declined, so on July 8th Carter Page travels to Russia and gets FISA warrant slapped on him. Every Trumper who talked to George since last July is going to have to recall what they said as the FBI has it on tape. 

[Jacque67 7,328]

Papadopoulos' lawyer, Thomas M. Breen, based in Chicago, declined to comment on the guilty plea but noted that "we will have the opportunity to comment on George's involvement when called upon by the court at a later date. We look forward to telling all of the details of George's story at that time."

The incident echoes elements of a June 2016 meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign officials at Trump Tower. The president's son organized that sit down with a Russian lawyer who was offering negative information about Clinton.

The White House immediately cast Papadopoulos as a mere volunteer with little influence during last year's campaign. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said his role was "extremely limited" and that "no activity was ever done in an official capacity on behalf of the campaign."

 

Trump named Papadopoulos to his foreign policy advisory council in March 2016, among a short list of experts amid growing public pressure on Trump to demonstrate he had a bench of foreign policy expertise.

During a March 21, 2016 meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump called Papadopoulos an "excellent guy."

Shortly afterward, Trump tweeted a photo of his advisory council meeting, with Papadopoulos among a handful of advisers at the president's table. In his plea filing, Papadopolous admitted that he told Trump and other top campaign national security officials during that meeting, that he had made contact with intermediaries for Russia who said they could set up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

[Jacque67 7,328]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-george-papadopoulos-trump-aide-20171031-story.html

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

2 hours ago, Jacque67 said:

Papadopoulos' lawyer, Thomas M. Breen, based in Chicago, declined to comment on the guilty plea but noted that "we will have the opportunity to comment on George's involvement when called upon by the court at a later date. We look forward to telling all of the details of George's story at that time."

The incident echoes elements of a June 2016 meeting involving Donald Trump Jr. and other campaign officials at Trump Tower. The president's son organized that sit down with a Russian lawyer who was offering negative information about Clinton.

The White House immediately cast Papadopoulos as a mere volunteer with little influence during last year's campaign. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said his role was "extremely limited" and that "no activity was ever done in an official capacity on behalf of the campaign."

 

Trump named Papadopoulos to his foreign policy advisory council in March 2016, among a short list of experts amid growing public pressure on Trump to demonstrate he had a bench of foreign policy expertise.

During a March 21, 2016 meeting with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump called Papadopoulos an "excellent guy."

Shortly afterward, Trump tweeted a photo of his advisory council meeting, with Papadopoulos among a handful of advisers at the president's table. In his plea filing, Papadopolous admitted that he told Trump and other top campaign national security officials during that meeting, that he had made contact with intermediaries for Russia who said they could set up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

7 hours ago, Jacque67 said:

And he's up and tweeting already!

 

to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!

9 minutes ago ·  Twitter

 

(Donald Trump)

Low Level, unfortunate choice of tweet in this case 

[Jacque67 7,328]

4 hours ago, Il Mango Dulce said:

Low Level, unfortunate choice of tweet in this case 

No way Don the Con was going to attempt to spell Papadopoulos !

 

Meanwhile:

 

Former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos made a significant claim in an email: Top Trump campaign officials agreed to a pre-election meeting with representatives of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

The message, if true, would bolster claims that Trump’s campaign attempted to collude with Russian interests. But it’s unclear whether Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was merely boasting when he sent the July 14, 2016, email to a Kremlin-linked contact. There’s also no indication such a meeting ever occurred.

 

George Papadopoulos, third from the left, seen in this Instagram post by Trump.

 

 

 

The email is cited in an FBI agent’s affidavit supporting criminal charges against Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy volunteer on Trump’s campaign. But it’s not included in court documents that detailed his secret guilty plea and his cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

 

Mueller Probe

The evidence gleaned during Papadopoulos’s three months of cooperation could further advance Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion by Trump’s aides. This latest email, one of many unsealed on Monday, runs counter to the steadfast denials by Trump and his supporters that anyone attempted to work with the Russians. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that Papadopoulos, a low-level adviser that few people on the campaign knew, “has already proven to be a liar.”

[Jacque67 7,328]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-31/papadopoulos-claimed-trump-campaign-approved-russia-meeting

[Jacque67 7,328]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/mueller-interviews-top-trump-adviser-will-question-communications-chief-1509494508

 

Mueller has interviewed Clovis, next up will be Hope Hicks. Jr is sweating it and appears to be making his dealer rich.

[eieio 1,594]

i would suggest to just scream.  let it out…let it all out.