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In a long interview, former Australian diplomat Alexander Downer spoke of his mysterious role in triggering the Trump-Russia inquiry. a configuration.
In an interview with Sky News earlier this week, Downer discussed the meeting between him and Papadopoulos in London in May 2016, where Trump's young assistant had mentioned how Russia had soiled Hillary Clinton. The diplomat then informed the Americans, who would have helped to open the investigation on the FBI.
Downer, in the interview, pointed out that there was "no suggestion that there was any collusion between Donald Trump or the Donald Trump campaign and the Russians", while downplaying his role in conveying details in the USA.
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"All we did was report what Papadopoulos said, and it was that he thought the Russians could divulge information that might harm Hillary Clinton's campaign at one point given before the elections, "Downer told Sky News. "Now he did not have to tell me that. I did not go to the meeting thinking that he was even going to talk about Russia in a context like the election campaign, I did not know that he would say that. "
Papadopoulos has had several meetings with foreigners, including Downer and Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud, during the 2016 presidential election. In his report, special advocate Robert Mueller said that Mifsud had told Papadopoulos that the Russians had "dirt" in the form of e-mails likely to harm Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016. Papadopoulos then told Downer about his conversations with Mifsud.
Papadopoulos has already suggested that the Downer meeting was part of a plot to lay the groundwork for the investigation of Russia.
Downer said that Papadopoulos had "chosen" to share this information with him.
"I do not know why he chatted about it, but if you say that kind of thing to someone in the Five Eyes intelligence community, I would consider myself a warrior of the alliance. Western, but drew my attention to the fact that the Russians could possibly hack the campaigns of the leading candidates in the Western elections, and then use this information to try to influence the outcome of these elections, that would really worry me He explained.
"Russia is not a friend of Western interests, and if they are hacking our elections, it's something we should try to stop," said Downer. "I do not know why he said that to me, but he did it and we reported it. The rest belongs to history, but no defense defends it. He says it's kind of a strange plot, I mean, that's what he said to me. "
Downer's comments came just days after The New York Times reported that an investigator working for the US intelligence community posed as a research assistant at the University of Cambridge in September 2016 and was trying to probe Papadopoulos on possible links of the campaign with Russia.
The report cited people familiar with the ongoing review by the Inspector General of the Department of Justice of the surveillance and other actions related to the investigation in 2016. The Attorney General Bill Barr received a harsh reaction for suggesting that "the spying campaign had actually taken place", while announcing that he would consider alleged misconduct regarding the origins of the investigation conducted in Russia.
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The investigator, who passed by Azra Turk, met Papadopoulos in a London bar, where she directly asked if the Trump campaign was working with Russia.
Papadopoulos told Fox News that he had seen Turk three times in London: once to drink, another time to dinner, and then once with Stefan Halper, a Cambridge professor and long-time FBI informant. The Times noted that Turk had apparently been sent to oversee Halper and possibly to provide coverage to Halper in case Turk had to testify.
Papadopoulos told Fox News last week that he "immediately thought that she was an agent, but a Turkish agent, or working for the CIA," and explained "that's why I do not I have never accepted it and I found it after London … London has become very odd, a meeting place for me this year. "
Papadopoulos also told Fox News that Turk was trying to "seduce" him in order to "make me miss and say something they knew I had no information".
Papadopoulos later pleaded guilty to making false statements in the Mueller investigation and served a short two-week prison sentence last year. The false statements were made in January 2017 to the FBI agents concerning his contacts with Mifsud. Papadopoulos, in his plea of guilty, acknowledged that Mifsud shared information that Russia may have "dirt" for the Clinton campaign.
It has long been suggested – in court documents filed by Mueller's team, by Democrats in Capitol Hill and in the media – that Mifsud was connected to Russian intelligence, though others insist that 39, it is more closely associated with Western governments and their intelligence agencies.
"Frankly, I do not think anyone claims that this guy was a Russian middleman or spy who was trying to get along with me," Papadopoulos told Fox News. "Quite frankly, even people like Rudy Giuliani go in public and say that it was probably part of some sort of installation."
Mueller's report specifically stated that Papadopoulos had been the subject of an investigation as a potential foreign agent of Israel. "Although the investigation revealed significant links between Papadopoulos and Israel (and that search warrants were obtained in part on this basis), the Bureau finally determined that the evidence was not sufficient to get and maintain a conviction, "wrote Mueller's team.
"I was really very impressed and frankly shocked that Bob Mueller was telling the truth about why I was being targeted illegally and that it really had nothing to do with Russia," he said. Papadopoulos told Fox News. "It had to do with my ties to Israel."
Gregg Re, Alex Pappas and Kristin Brown of Fox News contributed to this report.
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