6 key findings

6 key findings from Papadopoulos’ guilty plea in Russia probe

By CRISTIANO LIMA

George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser on President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian officials, court documents revealed Monday.

The plea deal was entered by Papadopoulos, 30, in a closed Washington, D.C., courtroom earlier this month, according to special counsel Robert Mueller’s office. It was publicly disclosed Monday and offers evidence of a Trump campaign official coordinating with a Russia-linked official offering "dirt" that could allegedly influence the election.

Here are the key findings from the 14-page court filing:

Papadopoulos made “material false statements” to the FBI in a January interview

The former Trump foreign policy adviser lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during an interview on Jan. 27, 2017. The meeting was held as part of their investigation into the Russian government’s effort to influence the 2016 campaign and whether there was “coordination” between foreign operatives and the Trump team, documents show.

He lied about meeting a professor with “substantial” ties to the Kremlin

Papadopoulos met with a professor from abroad who had “substantial” connections to Russian government officials on or around March 14, 2016. While Papadopoulos told federal authorities the meeting came prior to him joining Trump’s campaign, it in fact occurred in early March, documents show, after he joined the team. The meeting also came about because of the professor’s interest in Papadopoulos’ role with the Trump camp. They again discussed campaign-related matters on April 26, 2016, after Papadopoulos had been on the campaign team for more than a month.

Papadopoulos also lied to the FBI about the extent of his awareness of the professor’s Moscow connections, calling him “a nothing” who was “just a guy talk[ing] up connections or something,” when in reality he knew of his link to the Kremlin.

He discussed “dirt” on Hillary Clinton and her “thousands of emails”

Papadopoulos admitted to authorities that the professor had told him that he possessed “dirt” on then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her “thousands of emails.” The professor also discussed the emails during their meeting in April after Papadopoulos had joined the campaign.

He met with someone described as “a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin”

During his meeting with the Kremlin-linked professor, Papadopoulos was introduced to a female Russian national who was described to him as a “relative” of the Russian leader. The court filing says she possessed “connections to senior Russian government officials.”

Papadopoulos tried to set up a meeting between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin

Documents say Papadopoulos, “over a period of months,” sought to use the connections of the professor and the woman described as Putin’s relative to set up a summit between the campaign and the Russian government.

Following a March meeting with his two contacts, Papadopoulos told a "Campaign Supervisor" of the potential gathering and was told they would "work it through the campaign." The supervisor added, "Great work." Ultimately, the meeting between Russian leadership and the campaign did not take place.

The FBI says his lies and omissions “impeded” the investigation

Mueller’s team says that Papadopoulos, by providing false information and omitting details about his communications with Russian-linked contacts, hindered the FBI’s probe into Russian election interference and any coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow.