Ex-aide Trump, Papadopoulos, 1st accused in Russia, interrogated, sentenced to 14 days: NPR

Updated at 18:30 ET

The man whose case helped launch the investigation into Russian electoral interference that engulfed the White House was sentenced Friday to 14 days in prison.

George Papadopoulos, 31, pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI to hide his contacts with Russians and Russian middlemen during the presidential campaign.

A federal judge also sentenced Papadopoulos to one year of probation and a fine of $ 9,500.

Agents interviewed by Papadopoulos offered him "dirt" on Hillary Clinton and "unofficial" meetings in openings he discussed with Donald Trump's campaign leaders.

His lawyers claim that Papadopoulous stems from a "misguided sense of loyalty to his master" and preserve his career options in the new administration.

"He was unsophisticated, he was naive and he was a fool," said lawyer Thomas Breen. Papadopoulos did not know "he was worked by a pro" – a spy.

Breen said that his client "does not know he's forwarded it" – the dirt supply on Hillary Clinton "- to anyone in the Trump campaign – he can guess, but he's not sure. Is not sure. "

Papadopoulos first lied to the FBI a week after the inauguration of Trump, after the president had begun to denounce the "false news" and to reject any idea that Russia had attacked the 2016 elections. Papadopoulos followed this message before admitting the truth to the investigators, according to his lawyers.

"The President of the United States has further impeded this investigation that George Papadopoulos has never been able to," said Breen.

Breen also pointed to the "unusual" nature of the case, describing how at a meeting with FBI investigators, Papadopoulos looked up to see pictures of Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions – his old bosses on the waiting room.

The frustrated government

Prosecutors working for the Justice Department's special adviser, Robert Mueller, said Papadopoulos had undermined their investigation and prevented them from asking a London-based diplomacy professor how they knew Hillary Clinton had thousands of emails.

"In this case, the defendant deliberately and repeatedly lied to FBI agents during a very significant investigation … He chose to lie again and again to advance his personal interests in order to occupy a position. high in the new administration, "said Andrew Goldstein of the Department of Justice.

In the end, Papadopoulos was never hired for a position in the administration and Trump distanced himself from him.

But because of the lies, Goldstein said, the authorities had to "painstakingly collect" evidence of what had really happened, by examining 100,000 e-mails and electronic data. Only then could they face Papadopoulos.

The Russian awareness campaign in Papadopoulos was part of an extensive campaign of active measures targeting the United States and also included overtures against other political agents, cyberattacks and social media unrest.

In asking Papadopoulos to serve a prison sentence, government lawyers said he and his wife had participated in media interviews, tainted with false statements.

Far from cooperating to boost the investigation of the special prosecutor, prosecutors Goldstein, Jeannie Rhee and Aaron Zelinsky, Papadopoulos and his wife have instead given life to a false story about them and the seriousness of his crime.

The defendant contrite

Papadopoulos said that he now realizes that what he did was wrong.

"In January 2017, I made a terrible mistake for which I paid dearly and I was terribly ashamed," he said. "My whole life has been upset."

He added that he hoped to point out to other witnesses that "this inquiry has global implications and the truth matters".

Federal Judge Randy Moss acknowledged the time and energy it cost the government.

"It took six months before Mr. Papadopoulos corrected the case and he did so despite the evidence that he had lied," he said. But the judge called the sentence he had pronounced on Friday.

"The mere fact of having to go to prison will have a strong impression on him for the rest of his life," he said.

Papadopoulos will be allowed to visit the Bureau of Prisons once he has been informed of where he will be incarcerated. His lawyer said Papadopoulos and his wife wanted to move from their home in Chicago to Los Angeles.

More than a "coffee boy"

Papadopoulos has already been described as a "coffee boy" in the Trump countryside. But he attended foreign policy meetings with candidate Trump and then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, among others.

His lawyers said Papadopoulos had suggested negotiating a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2016, and that Trump had "acquiesced approvingly," according to a dossier tabled last month.

Defense lawyers Breen, Todd Pugh and Robert Stanley argued that the young energy consultant was simply "out of reach" in his dealings with Russian agents.

Trump appeared to respond to the sentence on Friday with a Twitter post who repeated his argument that the investigation of Russia is unfounded.

But Mark Warner of Virginia, the Senate's top Senate Democrat, said Friday that Papadopoulos' conviction had confirmed that Mueller's work was real and that Warner had questions for Papadopoulos.

"As an influential foreign policy advisor for the Trump campaign, Papadopoulos has been informed that Russia has" problems "with Hillary Clinton in the form of" thousands of emails "at a critical moment in the campaign," he said. declared Warner.

"I still have important questions about the quality of this information and I know that the Senate Intelligence Committee would like to hear Mr. Papadopoulos directly."

The connection in London

Papadopoulos was living in London as he joined the Trump campaign, one of many advisers recruited at a time when Trump was trying to establish his good faith and under pressure to appoint a team of foreign policy advisers.

The FBI began investigating Russia's electoral interference after learning that Papadopoulos had talked about his relationship with an Australian diplomat during a night of drinking.

The Australian has notified his government, which has notified the United States.

This triggered a counterintelligence investigation that became the ongoing effort by former FBI director Mueller to get to the bottom of Russia's attack in the 2016 elections – and if any Americans conspired with these efforts.

Papadopoulos was the key to discover this, says the government.

"His arrest and prosecution served to signal to everyone that it was a serious investigation," defense lawyers wrote. "He was the first domino, and many fell behind."