Free Republic

A former Trump campaign aide who took a guilty plea in special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe was the linchpin of the FBI’s investigation of Kremlin influence in the 2016 election, new reports say. In a drunken gossip session with an Australian diplomat in London in May 2016, Trump aide George Papadopoulos claimed that Russia held political dirt on Hillary Clinton, The New York Times said Saturday. Months later, e-mails hacked from the Democratic National Committee showed up on WikiLeaks, and the Australians told the FBI about the Papadopoulos conversation. The disclosure sparked the FBI’s probe into possible collusion between...

In collusion news today, the New York Times has devoted six reporters to producing the “news” that the previously obscure Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos lies at the heart of the putative case. Their story is “How the Russia inquiry began: A campaign aide, drinks and talk of political dirt.” Paul wrote about it last night here. I think the story is ludicrous on its face. The Times has served as a prime purveyor of the Trump/Russia hysteria. Yet reality has deflated it. Now the Times returns to pump it up. The names have changed, but the song remains the...