Among the evidence cited by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III against George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to President Trump’s campaign who has pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators, is a series of exchanges between Papadopoulos and campaign officials.
Papadopoulos admitted to lying to investigators about his relationship with a professor who claimed to connections with the Russian government and senior officials there who had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails.”
If nothing else, the correspondence establishes, as the Washington Post wrote on Monday, “that while senior Trump officials at times rebuffed or ignored Papadopoulos, they were well aware of his efforts, which went on for months.”
On April 27, 2016, Papadopoulos wrote to a high-ranking campaign official to discuss Russia’s interest in hosting then-candidate Trump. “Have been receiving a lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host him and the team when the time is right,” Papadopoulos said in an email to the unnamed official, according to a court filing.
Papadopoulos reiterated the message to the official in a message dated May 14, as well as to “another high-ranking campaign official” in a missive dated May 21.
Though Trump and the Russian president did not, as far as we know, meet during the campaign, on August 15, an unnamed campaign supervisor urged Papadopoulos to meet with the Russians off-the-record. “I would encourage you,” the official told Papadopoulos.
“Make the trip, if it is feasible,” Sam Clovis, another foreign policy advisor who currently serves as a White House liaison to the Department of Agriculture, reportedly replied.
Papadopoulos also reportedly wrote to Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager, and campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was indicted on Monday for tax fraud and money laundering in connection with sums he received for representing the pro-Russian government of Ukraine.
The White House on Monday tried to minimize Papadopoulos and his role, which Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters was “extremely limited; it was a volunteer position.”
Still, Trump touted Papadopoulos as a member of the campaign’s foreign policy team in a meeting in March 2016 with the Washington Post’s editorial board. (“He’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,” the candidate said.)
The guilty plea provides investigators with a road map for their inquiry into whether Team Trump cooperated with the Russians to influence the outcome of the campaign. Whether Papadopoulos received a paycheck may be besides the point.