Trump aide admits he lied to FBI about his contact with Russians
THE White House was reeling last night after a Trump aide admitted lying to the FBI about meeting a professor with strong links to the Kremlin during the presidential election campaign.
Foreign policy consultant George Papadopoulos said he had deceived federal investigators about meeting Professor Joseph Mifsud in London who had promised he could provide ‘dirt’ on Hillary Clinton in the form of ‘thousands of emails’.
Earlier, in a separate blow to the President, former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort was charged with money laundering and conspiring against the US.
Papadopoulos originally claimed he met the professor before he joined the Trump campaign but now admits it happened after his appointment as an adviser.
Professor Mifsud is the honorary director of the London Academy of Diplomacy, which is affiliated to the University of Stirling in Scotland. He is not named in the inquiry, but confirmed last night to The Daily Telegraph he was the professor mentioned in the FBI documents indicting Papadopoulos.
The documents state the pair had extensive contact. Professor Mifsud denied any wrongdoing and said: ‘I have a clear conscience.’ But Papadopoulos’ guilty plea and the accompanying documents were hailed by critics as the most explicit evidence to date that the Trump campaign was aware the Russians were trying to help him win – and that it was willing to accept that help.
Papadopoulos was quietly arrested by the FBI in July and has since been cooperating with an investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election, court records show.
Special counsel Robert Mueller is leading the investigation, which is looking into claims that members of the Trump campaign colluded with the Kremlin to tilt the election in his favour. The probe also led to the 12 charges against Manafort. Along with his business partner Rick Gates, he is accused of concealing £57million ($75million) earned while they worked as consultants for the former Ukrainian politician Viktor Yanukovych and his pro-Moscow party.
The money was allegedly funnelled through overseas shell companies, fuelling ‘a lavish lifestyle in the United States without paying taxes on that income’, according to the indictment.
The pair, who have both been placed under house arrest, denied the charges.
President Trump reacted by attempting to wash his hands of Manafort and reiterating that there was no collusion with Moscow. He also renewed calls for investigations to be made into Russia links to Mrs Clinton and the Democrats.
‘Sorry, but this is years ago, before Paul Manafort was part of the Trump campaign,’ Mr Trump tweeted. ‘But why aren’t Crooked Hillary & the Dems the focus?????’ He added: ‘Also, there is NO COLLUSION!’ The charges made against Manafort, which cover a period between 2006 and 2016, make no mention of his three months of work for Mr Trump until he was sacked as campaign chairman, nor any suggestion of election meddling.