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George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser whose activities triggered the Russia investigation, arrives for an appearance before congressional investigators on Capitol Hill in Washington on Oct. 25, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)
Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos, whose outreach efforts to Russian officials made him a focus of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe, is seeking immunity before he agrees to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee, according to congressional aides — despite having spoken with House lawmakers for seven hours behind closed doors Thursday.
Papadopoulos asked the Senate panel for immunity before he went to Capitol Hill on Thursday to discuss his involvement with the Trump campaign with members of the House Judiciary and Oversight and the Government Reform committees meeting jointly, according to a person familiar with the request. The Republican members of those panels were sympathetic to Papadopoulos’s claims that he was “set up” by the FBI, along with British and Australian officials, to create the appearance that Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign had had untoward dealings with Russia. Papadopoulos has not made public any evidence supporting his claim.
But after his House testimony, Papadopoulos did not drop his demand for immunity from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which rarely grants such requests and is unlikely to do so in this instance, given that Papadopoulos already spoke to other lawmakers without such a guarantee.
Witnesses usually seek immunity to avoid potential exposure to criminal prosecution for what they reveal in their statements. Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI, and last month was sentenced to two weeks in prison on those charges. He has yet to serve his sentence. But Friday, Papadopoulos said on Fox News that he was “considering withdrawing” his guilty plea in Mueller’s probe, baderting that he “was framed” in the investigation.
It was shortly after his sentencing that Papadopoulos offered to speak with Senate Intelligence Committee members, as well as to other lawmakers interested in hearing from him. At the time, he tweeted to the panel’s chairman, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and to Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), the panel’s vice chairman, saying he also wanted to discuss his interactions with who he said were two U.S. intelligence officials based at the U.S. Embbady in London, naming them as Gregory Baker and Terrence Dudley and claiming that they had “wanted to ingratiate themselves in campaign via myself.”
On Thursday, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said that Papadopoulos had informed House lawmakers of additional contacts he had had with government officials, apart from the Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, whom he told in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of emails from former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, weeks before that information was made public.
[Trump allies, offering no specifics, say former FBI official gives ‘explosive’ testimony in Russia probe]
That information helped spark federal law enforcement agencies’ interest in Trump’s campaign, leading to the start of the counterintelligence investigation focused on Papadopoulos. Trump’s congressional allies have long sought to demonstrate that that decision was made on faulty grounds. On Thursday, Meadows also alleged that FBI and Justice Department officials might have infringed on Papadopoulos’s constitutional rights while investigating him, calling on the Justice Department’s professional conduct office to review the actions of certain individuals whom he did not name.
Papadopoulos is said to have proposed using his contacts to make overtures to Russian officials on behalf of the Trump campaign — but told the House panels that he “never knowingly” met or spoke with any official connected to the Russian government. During his sentencing last month, his lawyer said that Trump had “nodded with approval” when Papadopoulos made his suggestion.
Read more at PowerPost
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