Judge says Trump campaign adviser must serve sentence

A federal judge on Sunday denied attempts by former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos to delay the start of his twoweek prison sentence, slated to begin Monday.

Papadopoulos was sentenced in September for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 presidential race, lies that prosecutors said hampered the investigation into Russia’s interference in that election.

In a 13-page opinion, Judge Randolph D. Moss of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Sunday that the window for Papadopoulos to appeal his conviction had ended Sept. 25, and that he had “failed to carry his burden of demonstrating that a delay in the execution of his sentence is warranted.”

Lawyers for Papadopoulos did not immediately respond to requests for comment Sunday.

Moss dismissed a suggestion by Papadopoulos that his prison time should be delayed pending the resolution of a challenge to the appointment of the special counsel, Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russian interference and whether there were any connections to the Trump campaign.

Lower courts have affirmed the validity of Mueller’s appointment.

Papadopoulos had suggested that the appeal could theoretically find Mueller’s appointment unlawful, and that, in turn, would result in his own conviction being set aside.

Moss, however, said in the opinion Sunday that Papadopoulos did not show that the appeal was likely to find Mueller’s appointment unlawful and, even if it did, such a finding was not likely to provide any new evidence that could set aside his conviction.

He also rejected what he characterized as Papadopoulos’ “eleventh hour” request, filed on Wednesday, to delay his sentence until he could further appeal any decision about the Mueller case.

In court papers filed in August, prosecutors said that because Papadopoulos misled investigators, they failed to arrest a London-based professor who was suspected of being a Russian operative.

In an interview with The New York Times in September, Papadopoulos said he had lied in part because he wanted to distance himself “as much as possible — and Trump himself, and the campaign — from what was probably an illegal action or dangerous information.”