Trump calls ex-aide accused ‘a liar’
UNITED STATES: US President Donald Trump has called George Papadopoulos – his campaign foreign policy adviser who pleaded guilty to lying about his Russian contacts to FBI agents – a ‘‘young, low-level volunteer’’ and a ‘‘liar’’.
As part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to making false statements and ‘‘material omissions’’ to the FBI about several communications he had with allies of the Russian government, including a professor who offered him ‘‘dirt’’ on Trump’s Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Additional charges were filed on Tuesday against two major players in Trump’s campaign: former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business associate Rick Gates, who also worked on Trump’s campaign.
In an early-morning tweet yesterday, Trump blasted the idea that there was any co-ordination with Russia, saying ‘‘the Fake News is working overtime’’.
He distanced himself from Papadopoulos, 30. ‘‘Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!’’
The series of charges is a significant step in the federal investigation, which Trump has previously dismissed as a ‘‘hoax’’ and a ‘‘witch hunt’’.
While Mueller’s filings do not allege there was collusion between the campaign and Russia, Papadopoulos’s attempts to contact Russians did take place during the campaign. Legal documents filed by Mueller show he was reporting to – and being encouraged by – top-level aides in the campaign.
Trump described Papadopoulos during the campaign as an ‘‘excellent guy’’, and he was named as one of five foreign policy advisers.
Papadopoulos was based in London when he joined the Trump campaign in March last year and focused on developing Russian contacts. He held at least two meetings with a Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud, head of the London Academy of Diplomacy, who he believed had high-level Russian government contacts.
Papadopoulos had extensive email contact with Mifsud and people the academic allegedly introduced him to, including a woman described in court papers as a ‘‘female Russian national’’ and an official in Moscow’s foreign affairs ministry.
Papadopoulos first met Mifsud in Italy in mid-March. Ten days later, in London, Mifsud is said to have introduced him to the Russian woman, who was described as a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In one email, Papadopoulos claims to have met the Russian ambassador to Britain.
Around April 26 last year, the court papers say, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that he had just returned from a trip to Moscow, where he had met high-level Russian government officials.
Papadopoulos has told the FBI that the professor told him: ‘‘[The Russians] have dirt on [Clinton] ... they have thousands of emails.’’
Mifsud has denied any contact with the Russian government, and said yesterday the allegations against him were ‘‘a laughing matter’’. – USA Today, The Times