Posted on 09/01/2018 6:45:41 AM PDT by yesthatjallen
A former campaign aide accused of lying to the FBI said that then-candidate Donald Trump “nodded with approval” at his suggestion of setting up a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
George Papadopoulos’ lawyers argued in new probation filings that President Trump was open to his suggestions about meeting with the foreign leader in March of 2016, The Associated Press reported Saturday.
Papadopoulos allegedly volunteered to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin during a gathering with Trump’s foreign policy advisers, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who was a GOP senator at the time.
“While some in the room rebuffed George’s offer, Mr. Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr. Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it,” defense lawyers wrote.
His lawyers argued in a 16-page defense memo that Papadopoulos was “eager to show his value to the campaign" and should receive leniency.
The aide was hired to the campaign in March 2016 without any previous knowledge of Russian or U.S. diplomacy, AP noted.
Papadopoulos lied to FBI agents not to hurt special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation but to “save his professional aspirations and preserve a perhaps misguided loyalty to his master,” his defense lawyers wrote, according to the AP.
They acknowledge that he “lied, minimized and committed material facts.”
However, due to his loyalty to Trump and his desire to play a pivotal role in his new administration, “he hoisted himself upon his own petard,” his lawyers argued.
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last year to lying to FBI agents about his communications with Russians and a London professor and agreed to cooperate with Mueller’s ongoing probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Papadopoulos's bragging about seeking dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russians during the presidential campaign first launched Mueller's probe, according to congressional investigators.
Mueller recommended last month that Papadopoulos be sentenced to zero to six months in prison and face a fine of $9,500.
Papadopoulos’s wife, Simona Mangiante, suggested last month that she wanted her husband to back out of the deal after her confidence in the Mueller probe wavered.
"I trusted the institutions until they proved me wrong," Mangiante told MSNBC, adding that she had been made aware of "exculpatory evidences that fully justify him to drop off his plea agreement."
She later said that Papadopoulos will stick with the plea deal arranged with Mueller and take “responsibility for some inaccuracies” during his FBI interview.
Of course they did! There's nothing criminal about this! Then again, all these candidates were supposed to win. Trump wasn't.
How many have looked into this guy? I would not let him within a mile of any compaign or operation I was involved in.
Oil and gas consultant? With what credentials?
Bad judgement having this sort around.
You read this and realize the investigation was always assuming everyone involved was guilty of collusion. There is no attempt to say we were wrong and bought into a massive hoax conducted by partisans. If you open a counter- intel on July 31 of 2016 and haven’t bothered to interview let alone surveil the principles involved until after the inauguration...well that’s called a cover- up.
IIRC, the little prick mentioned it and SESSIONS shut him up directly...right then and there.....basically telling the little prick....MYOB....
“Papadopoulos allegedly volunteered to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin”
Papadopoulos was so far down the food chain that he could not have set up a meeting, which in of itself is not illegal.
This is Robert Muller squeezing him to say untrue things.
Trump might as well resign right now.
These people are pathetically desperate.
If approving a meeting is now a crime, where does Obama’s promise of “flexibility” with the Russians stand?
Bingo. The real story that will never be revealed like the Clintons selling technology to China.... or Uranium One.
The Dems and MSM know how to shift the real blame to the weak kneed pubs who cower against any iota of potential wrongdoing.
Thank God we have The Donald. He will call them out for what they are BS ers and fakes.
hearsay evidence…in-admissible in a court of law
The guy kinda snuck in. He was working for Ben Carson. They were just looking for someone to fill chairs...and he wiggled himself in. Sucxh a minor character with NO experience. As far as I know, he was not a member of the campaign but connected as a volunteer.
Mueller recommended last month that Papadopoulos be sentenced to zero to six months in prison and face a fine of $9,500.
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Special prosecutor should not be allowed to do this. They are basically playing judge, jury, and executioner. Guilty party gets off in exchange for telling them what they want to hear.
Sessions bought Papadopoulos and Paige into the campaign, they two people the Deep-State used as a hook to get FISA warrants. Sessions was a plant.
If you’ll recall, because the media won’t, candidate Trump had a wildly successful meeting with the Mexican president. I believe that meeting was instrumental to his election, demonstrating he was not a bigot and could deal with foreign leaders. Certainly Mexico “influences” our elections more than any country.
98% of the time they screw up what they were fed.
Almost every presidential candidate meets with as many foreign leaders as they can before and during the campaign. These meetings are meant to boost their foreign policy credentials. As any other candidate been condemned for doing that, I think not.
Trump probably nodded and smiled and said something sarcastic like, “Yeah George, you set that up.” Then everyone at the meeting had a big chuckle and they got back to work.
He kept name dropping along the way and it helped him build clout.
He became 'the guy who knows a guy'.
His big talk, ambition, and willingness to say anything to move up the chain got him into trouble.
What a crock of shit.
Blame Trump.
He lied for no reason at all.
Yeah, it was Trump, he was having me send smoke signals from the top of my London hotel that the Russian embassy was picking up.
There should be a level of bullshit that once a story exceeds it, the purveyor must wear a dunce cap in court.
“A former campaign aide accused of lying to the FBI said...”
Ladies and gentlemen! What more proof do we need?
“While some in the room rebuffed George’s offer, Mr. Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr. Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it,”
Since the room had already vetoed the idea, he was simply tabling the idea. Would he have prefered to be told it was a stupid idea and STFU?
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