Thursday, July 18, 2019

Continued from previous entry

As he was taking his position at LCILP, Papadopoulos contacted Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski via Linkedln and emailed campaign official Michael Glassner...


Michael Glassner (click here) is the chief strategist for President Donald Trump's (R) 2020 re-election campaign. In January 2017, Trump announced that Glassner would lead a small staff for his campaign committee, based in Trump Tower.[1] Glassner is also the president of the consulting firm C&M Transcontinental and served as the deputy campaign manager for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. Glassner is known for his experience in Jewish voter relations and for his time as an aide to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin(R)....

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 East

Joy 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

Continued from a previous entry

Page 80 of the Special Counsel Report and Page 88 of the PDF (click here)

George Papadopoulos is portrayed in the media as a low level campaign staffer. Can't prove it by the Special Counsel investigation. There is a lot here for a low level staffer.

2. George Papadopoulos

George Papadopoulos, (click here) left, pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to FBI agents about a series of meetings he took and planned while he was a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign.

George Papadopoulos was a foreign policy advisor to the Trump Campaign from March 2016 to early October 2016.394 In late April 2016, Papadopoulos was told by London-based professor Joseph Mifsud, immediately after Mifsud's return from a trip to Moscow, that the Russian government had obtained "dirt" on candidate Clinton in the form of thousands of emails. One week later, on May 6, 2016, Papadopoulos suggested to a representative of a foreign government that the Trump Campaign had received indications from the Russian government that it could assist the Campaign through the anonymous release of information that would be damaging to candidate Clinton.


That is not a minor staffer. He has high level information. He might be an odd guy in some ways in a social context, but, he had high level information.

August 29. 2018
By John Solomon

...European professor Joseph Mifsud. (click here)

Documents I obtained from sources show Mifsud told the FBI in February 2017 that his contacts with Papadopoulos a year earlier, during the 2016 presidential campaign, were mostly innocuous. He made that point both in an FBI interview and a follow-up email to agents.


He described the contacts as an academic exercise in pursuit of peace, not a global plot to hijack the election. And he went out of his way to say there was no talk of sinister cybersecurity intentions such as a plot to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails.


“I reaffirm that the content of our conversations was always on wide geo-strategic issues,” he wrote FBI agents on Feb. 11, in an email that was quickly sent to the very top of the FBI’s counterintelligence division. Mifsud sent the email just hours after agents interviewed him.


He said the conversations mostly centered around “how the Trump then-campaign team looked to develop a conversation on Europe/UK … and with Russia” and “the fallout in policy in the deteriorating relationship between the major countries in the world today.”...


The only thing that seems to be consistent is that conversations between Papadopoulos and Mifsud took place AFTER Mifsud returned from Russia. What can't be dismissed is that Russia was instrumental in electing Donald J. Trump through the activities of the Russian IRA and GRU. It doesn't matter that the FBI did a great job of chasing these Russian agencies and obtaining information from their own computers, these agencies actually were actively involved in electing Donald J. Trump beginning in 2014. So, on balance, the statements by Papadopoulos can't be dismissed.

Papadopoulos shared information about Russian "dirt" with people outside of the Campaign, and the Office investigated whether he also provided it to a Campaign official. Papadopoulos and the Campaign officials with whom he interacted told the Office that they did not recall that Papadopoulos passed them the information. Throughout the relevant period of time and for several months thereafter, Papadopoulos worked with Mifsud and two Russian nationals to arrange a meeting between the Campaign and the Russian government. That meeting never came to pass.


Does anyone actually believe Papadopoulos never provided the Trump campaign with information from Mifsud and two Russian nationals after spending campaign monies on travel to Europe with a continued relationship for several months to set up a meeting? I might point out eventually there was a meeting.


I have to remind that there is a somewhat abnormal dynamic playing out with these guys; they don't trust each other. I am confident they dismiss a lot of activity that actually occurs to protect themselves. That dynamic can't be dismissed as "at work" realizing that a meeting did take place and Russia was instrumental in the election. Russia was not blinking an eye, it was the members of the campaign that was getting nervous.

Papadopoulos is a son of Greek immigrants, was raised in the USA, graduated from high school, went to college and graduate school in Europe. He is fluent in four languages including Greek (which is no surprise because of his parents), French and Arabic, like that spoken and written by those in Saudi Arabia.

a. Origins of Campaign Work

In March 2016, Papadopoulos became a foreign policy advisor to the Trump Campaign.395 As early as the summer of 2015, he had sought a role as a policy advisor to the Campaign but, in a September 30, 2015 email, he was told that the Campaign was not hiring policy advisors.396 In late 2015, Papadopoulos obtained a paid position on the campaign of Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson. 397

Although Carson remained in the presidential race until early March 20I6, Papadopoulos had stopped actively working for his campaign by early February 2016.398 At that time, Papadopoulos reached out to a contact at the London Centre of International Law Practice (LCILP), which billed itself as a "unique institution . . . comprising high-level professional international law practitioners, dedicated to the advancement of global legal knowledge and the practice of international law."399 Papadopoulos said that he had finished his role with the Carson campaign and asked if LCILP was hiring.400 In early February, Papadopoulos agreed to join LCILP and arrived in London to begin work.401

There is every reason to believe Papadopoulos had European contacts within academia.

Footnote 394 Papadopoulos met with our Office for debriefings on several occasions in the summer and fall of 2017, after he was arrested and charged in a sealed criminal complaint with making false statements in a January 2017 FBI interview about, inter alia, the timing, extent, and nature of his interactions and communications with Joseph Mifsud and two Russian nationals: 


Olga Polonskaya (click here)

and 


Ivan Timofeev.

Ivan Timofeev (click here) has been a Director of Programs at the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) since 2011. RIAC member since 2016. He is responsible for the intellectual performance of RIAC, managing its programs and projects. His personal background at RIAC includes working with Russian and foreign diplomats, governmental officials, experts, businessmen and NGO-leaders regarding Russia’s foreign policy and public diplomacy...

November 11, 2017
By Chuck Ross

One of the last remaining mysteries (click here) from a court filing against former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has been solved, and it raises numerous questions about a top White House adviser.

Stephen Miller, a former Senate aide to Jeff Sessions, was identified Friday night by The New York Times as the “senior policy advisor” referenced in a statement of offense released this month by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in a case involving Papadopoulos, an energy consultant who pleaded guilty last month to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.

The Mueller document cited emails that Papadopoulos sent to the “senior policy advisor” in April 2016, one regarding a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and another that referred to “interesting messages” that Papadopoulos had received “from Moscow.”

“The Russian government has an open invitation by Putin for Mr. Trump to meet him when he is ready,” Papaopoulos wrote to Miller in an April 25 message....

But, that is true. It took a while for Trump and Putin to finally hunker down for hours with a one and one in Helsinki, but, it finally happened at least once in his presidency. Cohen was invited to a Russian gathering of leaders that ultimately the Russians wanted Trump to attend. There is no doubt Putin was more than willing to meet with Trump.

Papadopoulos later pleaded guilty, pursuant to a plea agreement, to an information charging him with making false statements to the FBI, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § lO0l(a).

(a) Except as otherwise provided (click here) in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—

Footnote 395 A Transcript of Donald Trump's Meeting with the Washington Post Editorial Board,Washington Post (Mar. 21, 2016). (click here)
Footnote 396 7/15/15 Linkedln Message, Papadopoulos to Lewandowski (6:57 a.m.); 9/30/15 Email, Glassner to Papadopoulos (7:42:21 a.m.).
Footnote 397 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 2.
Footnote 398 Papadopoulos 8/10/17 302, at 2; 2/4/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Idris.
Footnote 399 London Centre of International Law Practice, at https://www.lcilp.org/ (via web.archive.org). 
Footnote 400 2/4/16 Email, Papadopoulos to Idris.
Footntoe 401 2/5/16 Email, Idris to Papadopoulos (6:11:25 p.m.); 2/6/16 Email, Idris to Papadopoulos (5:34:15 p.m.). 

continued in following entry

The judge understands how dangerous this man is to young people.

The concern for women involved with him is global. There are concerns in Israel as well as Europe.

Besides the human trafficking, Epstein carried out, was there coercion involved? Did he hold the knowledge he had of others as a weapon that facilitated his wealth?

July 18, 2019
by Kat Tenbarge

US District Judge Richard Berman (click here) announced in court Thursday morning that he decided against wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein's bail request. Epstein will remain in custody awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking of minors and conspiracy to engage in sex trafficking of minors.

Epstein, a convicted sex offender, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Berman's decision came after a bail hearing in which federal prosecutors argued that Epstein posed a flight risk as well as a public safety risk, and that there was a potential risk of obstruction of justice.

In his decision, Berman said that Epstein was a danger to himself and others and therefore should not be released. "I find that the government has established danger to others and to the community by clear and convincing evidence," he said, noting that "I doubt that any bail package can overcome danger to the community."...