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.
If I recall correctly I saw one report that there is some evidence that Mr. Poppo was a nobody used by either the Russians or Hillary’s gang to infiltrate Trump’s campaign. Seems logical to me that hillary’s crime syndicate would pay him to set Trump up using the Russian trap. Poppo was too eager to push the Russian thing. Odd for a “newcomer” to the campaign.