WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A former adviser to President Donald Trump's campaign pleaded guilty earlier this month to lying to the FBI about interactions with Kremlin-connected Russian nationals.
George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty to making 'material false statements and material omissions' to the FBI on October 5th.
A court filing claimed Papadopoulos' false statements and omissions impeded the FBI's investigation of Russian interference in last year's presidential election.
The plea was kept secret because Papadopoulos is now cooperating with the government in its ongoing Russia investigation.
Papadopoulos previously claimed his interactions with a professor who he understood to have substantial connections to Russian government officials occurred before he joined the Trump campaign.
However, the court filing says Papadopoulos met the professor on or about March 14, 2016 after joining the campaign earlier in the month.
The professor, who purportedly only took interest in Papadopoulos because of his status with the campaign, later claimed to have 'dirt' on Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in the form of 'thousands of emails.'
The filing says Papadopoulos repeatedly sought to use the professor's Russian connections in an effort to arrange a meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials.
Papadopoulos is also said to have lied about his interactions with a Russian woman, whom he mistakenly described in an email as President Vladimir Putin's niece.
While Papadopoulos claimed his communications with the woman consisted of emails such as 'Hi, how are you?' he had actually also sought to use her connections to arrange a meeting between the campaign and Russian officials.
The news of Papadopoulos' guilty plea comes the same day as the revelation that Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his longtime business associate Rick Gates have been indicted by a federal grand jury on twelve counts, including conspiracy against the U.S.
Trump has repeatedly denied there was any collusion between his campaign and Russia, calling the investigation a 'witch hunt.'
(Photo: Gage Skidmore)
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