April 25, 2019
President Trump´s Unorthodox Campaign Strategy Is Paying Off (click here)
About the time that he was drafting his first inaugural address, President-elect Donald Trump, as he characteristically does, made a series of decisions at odds with all conventional.....
...about his interest in joining the Trump Campaign.402 On March 2, 2016, Papadopoulos sent Glassner another message reiterating his interest.403 Glassner passed along word of Papadopoulos's interest to another campaign official, Joy Lutes,...
Steve Lutes, Joy Lutes, (click here) and Terry Evans of the U.S. Chamber meet with OCA President Chris Long ,Steve is an advisor of the OCA and is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Representative to the Middle EastJoy Lutes, (click here) NAWBO National Vice President of External Affairs
...who notified Papadopoulos by email that she had been told by Glassner to introduce Papadopoulos to Sam Clovis, the Trump Campaign's national co-chair and chief policy advisor. 404
At the time of Papadopoulos's March 2 email, the media was criticizing the Trump Campaign for lack of experienced foreign policy or national security advisors within its ranks.405 To address that issue, senior Campaign officials asked Clovis to put a foreign policy team together on short notice.406 After receiving Papadopoulos's name from Lutes, Clovis performed a Google search on Papadopoulos, learned that he had worked at the Hudson Institute (click here), and believed that he had credibility on energy issues.407 On March 3, 2016, Clovis arranged to speak with Papadopoulos by phone to discuss Papadopoulos joining the Campaign as a foreign policy advisor, and on March 6, 2016, the two spoke.408 Papadopoulos recalled that Russia was mentioned as a topic, and he understood from the conversation that Russia would be an important aspect of the Campaign's foreign policy.409 At the end of the conversation, Clovis offered Papadopoulos a role as a foreign policy advisor to the Campaign, and Papadopoulos accepted the offer.410
Footnote 403 3/2/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Glassner (11: 17:23 a.m.).
Footnote 404 3/2/16 Email, Lutes to Papadopoulos (10:08:15 p.m.).
Footnote 405 Clovis 10/3/17 302 (1 of2), at 4.
Footnote 406 Clovis 10/3/17 302 (1 of2), at 4.
Footnote 407 Grand Jury (6:05:47 p.m.). ; 3/3/16 Email, Lutes to Clovis & Papadopoulos
Footnote 408 3/6/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Clovis (4:24:21 p.m.).
Footnote 409 Statement of Offense ,i4, United States v. George Papadopoulos, 1: 17-cr-182 (D.D.C. Oct. 5, 2017), Doc. 19 ("Papadopoulos Statement of Offense").
Footnote 410 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 2.
b. Initial Russia-Related Contacts
Approximately a week after (about March 13) signing on as a foreign policy advisor, Papadopoulos traveled to Rome, Italy, as part of his duties with LCILP.411 The purpose of the trip was to meet officials affiliated with Link Campus University (click here), a for-profit institution headed by a former Italian government official.412 During the visit, Papadopoulos was introduced to Joseph Mifsud.
Mifsud is a Maltese national who worked as a professor at the London Academy of Diplomacy (click here) in London, England.413 Although Mifsud worked out of London and was also affiliated with LCILP, the encounter in Rome was the first time that Papadopoulos met him.414 Mifsud maintained various Russian contacts while living in London, as described further below. Among his contacts was ((Investigative Technique (IT)), 415 a one-time employee of the IRA, the entity that carried out the Russian social media campaign (see Volume I Section II, supra). In January and February 2016, Mifsud and (IT ) discussed (IT ) possibly meeting in Russia. The investigation did not evidence of them meeting. Later, in the spring of 2016, (IT ) was also in contact (IT ) that was linked to an employee of the Russian Ministry of Defense, and that account had overlapping contacts with a group of Russian military controlled Facebook accounts that included accounts used to promote the DCLeaks releases in the course of the GRU's hack-and-release operations (see Volume I, Section III.B.1, supra).
It looks as though the Special Counsel hit pay dirt with Professor Mifsud's contacts.
According to Papadopoulos, Mifsud at first seemed uninterested in Papadopoulos when they met in Rome. 416 After Papadopoulos informed Mifsud about his role in the Trump Campaign, however, Mifsud appeared to take greater interest in Papadopoulos. 417 The two discussed Mifsud's European and Russian contacts and had a general discussion about Russia; Mifsud also offered to introduce Papadopoulos to European leaders and others with contacts to the Russian government. 418 Papadopoulos told the Office that Mifsud's claim of substantial connections with Russian government officials interested Papadopoulos, who thought that such connections could increase his importance as a policy advisor to the Trump Campaign.419
By his contacts alone, Professor Mifsud is very cozy with Russians at high levels of the government. I think Geoge Papadopoulos had information the Trump campaign was interested in. I think he was an asset to the campaign. I also believe he was an asset to the Special Counsel, regardless of the findings of his lies. His information supplied validation to the investigation Russia was floating around Trump and his campaign. I also believe Papadopoulos received a slap on the wrist for his lies.
411 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 2-3; Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 5.
412 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 2-3; Stephanie Kirchgaessner et al., Joseph Mifsud: more questions than answers about mystery professor linked to Russia, The Guardian (Oct. 31, 2017) ("Link Campus University ... is headed by a former Italian interior minister named Vincenzo Scotti.").
413 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 5.
414 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 3.
415 See, e.g. (Investigative Technique) Harm of Ongoing Matter
416 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 5.
417 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 5.
418 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 3; Papadopoulos 8/11/17 302, at 2.
419 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 5.
On March 17, 2016, Papadopoulos returned to London.420 Four days later, candidate Trump publicly named him as a member of the foreign policy and national security advisory team chaired by Senator Jeff Sessions, describing Papadopoulos as "an oil and energy consultant" and an "[e]xcellent guy."421
On March 24, 2016, Papadopoulos met with Mifsud in London.422 Mifsud was accompanied by a Russian female named Olga Polonskaya. Mifsud introduced Polonskaya as a former student of his who had connections to Vladimir Putin.423 Papadopoulos understood at the time that Polonskaya may have been Putin's niece but later learned that this was not true. 424 During the meeting, Polonskaya offered to help Papadopoulos establish contacts in Russia and stated that the Russian ambassador in London was a friend of hers. 425 Based on this interaction, Papadopoulos expected Mifsud and Polonskaya to introduce him to the Russian ambassador in London, but that did not occur.426
Following his meeting with Mifsud, Papadopoulos sent an email to members of the Trump Campaign's foreign policy advisory team. The subject line of the message was "Meeting with Russian leadership--including Putin."427 The message stated in pertinent part:
I just finished a very productive lunch with a good friend of mine, Joseph Mifsud, the director of the London Academy of Diplomacy--who introduced me to both Putin's niece and the Russian Ambassador in London (click here) --who also acts as the Deputy Foreign Minister.428
The topic of the lunch was to arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump. They are keen to host us in a "neutral" city, or directly in Moscow. They said the leadership, including Putin, is ready to meet with us and Mr. Trump should there be interest. Waiting for everyone's thoughts on moving forward with this very important issue.429
Why not France? Why not China? Why Russia with the fact being that Russia was already engulfed in espionage in the USA to support Trump's campaign. I find the statements by the Professor and Papadopoulos in balance with Russia activity far more than coincidence.
Footnote 420 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 2.
Footnote 421 Phillip Rucker & Robert Costa, Trump Questions Need for NATO, Outlines NoninterventionistForeign Policy (click here), Washington Post (Mar. 21, 2016).
Footnote 422 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 3; 3/24/16 Text Messages, Mifsud & Papadopoulos.
Footnote 423 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 3.
Footnote 424 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 3; Papadopoulos 2/10/17 302, at 2-3; Papadopoulos Internet Search History (3/24/16) (revealing late-morning and early-afternoon searches on March 24, 2016 for "putin's niece," "olga putin," and "russian president niece olga," among other terms).
Footnote 425 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 3.
Footnote 426 Papadopoulos Statement of Offense ,r 8 n. l.
Footnote 427 3/24/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Page et al. (8:48:21 a.m.).
Footnote 428 Papadopoulos's statements to the Campaign were false. As noted above, the woman he met was not Putin's niece, he had not met the Russian Ambassador in London, and the Ambassador did not also serve as Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister.
Footnote 429 3/24/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Page et al. (8:48:21 a.m.).
continued at a later entry - thank you
