Sessions liked the idea of ​​Trump-Putin meeting, says Papadopoulos

Trump's former campaign advisor, George Papadopoulos, gave another indication that Advocate General Jeff Sessions may have perjured himself by testifying before the Congress of the links of the campaign with Russia. In two television interviews and a file repository, Mr. Papadopoulos shared his report of a Trump campaign meeting in March 2016 – the first meeting of the national security team of Trump – during which he announced that he could hold a summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Mr. Papadopoulos, Mr. Sessions, a close ally and campaign advisor to Mr. Trump, was "very excited" about this potential meeting, a detail that directly contradicts what Sessions has sworn in Congress year-round. last.

Papadopoulos was sentenced Friday to 14 days in jail after pleading guilty in October to lying at a federal inquiry to hide his contacts with Russia – lies that he said were aimed at protecting himself and the country. President Trump. Robert Mueller's special adviser had specifically asked for a term of imprisonment, arguing that Papadopoulos' deception had harmed Russia's investigation during its critical early stages and prevented US authorities from detaining and prosecuting the case. to interview Professor Joseph Mifsud, linked to the Kremlin. try to set up the Trump-Putin meeting.

Papadopoulos' lawyers, in search of clemency, pleaded Friday in a lawsuit that President Trump had done more to hide the ties with Russia than Papadopoulos. "While some in the room have rebuffed George's offer [to set up the Putin meeting]", Said the filing with reference to the March 2016 meeting." Mr. Trump nodded with approval and referred to Mr. Sessions who seemed to like the idea and said the campaign should look into the matter. "(President Trump repeatedly denied that he or his campaign was in conflict with Russia before or after the 2016 presidential election).

"The Trump candidate at that time, he nodded, I do not think it was committed anyway," Papadopoulos explained to This week animate George Stephanopoulos in an interview broadcast Sunday. "[Trump] was open to the idea and he of course referred to the former senator Jeff Sessions, which I remember being very enthusiastic about accommodation.

At CNN's special Friday evening on Papadopoulos, the former councilor explained that he "looked at candidate Trump directly in his eyes and said," I can do it if you're interested and if it's in interest of the campaign ". The energy in the room, of course, there were dissenters, but the collective energy in the room seems to interest. The dissidents were apparently members of the conservative think tank of Trump's national security team, but Papadopoulos.

When asked under oath about last year's offer, the sessions said, "I think I wanted to clarify [Papadopoulos] that he was not allowed to represent the campaign with the Russian government or any other foreign government. Asked about stopping the idea of ​​the meeting, Sessions agreed: "Yes, I backed down. I'm just going to say it that way. "

Sessions' lawyer, Chuck Cooper, told CNN that the Attorney General "stays true to his testimony," while the Department of Justice declined to comment on the matter. If Sessions had perjured himself, it would probably be very difficult to convince him, because it would have to prove that he had knowingly lied about his response to Papadopoulos' offer. This is not the first time that the statements of Sessions in Congress regarding his contacts with Russia and the Trump campaign have proved false, and he has not yet suffered any other consequences than pressure to withdraw from the Russian inquiry. Trump has always wanted to refer sessions for this decision.

Pressed by Stephanopoulos about whether Sessions had lied, Papadopoulos retorted that "all I can say is that it was a meeting two years ago – my memory differs from that of Jeff Sessions. that the [Trump] the campaign was fully aware of what I was doing "with regard to his attempts to set up Putin's summit, including campaign director Corey Lewandowski and campaign advisor Sam Clovis. "I think Sam Clovis told me" great work "at the time," said Papadopoulos.

Papadopoulos was mysteriously incomprehensible, however, about whether or not he told the Trump campaigners about the possible pirated Clinton emails he had heard about later by Mifsud. Another member of the Trump campaign, John Mashburn, said that Papadopoulos sent him an email mentioning Clinton's filth. Papadopoulos said he had "no memory" of this and noted that the proof of email was not found, but added that he could not "guarantee" that he did not share Clinton's dirt news with other people in the countryside.

If Papadopoulos had talked about hacked e-mails to other campaign leaders or if one of the participants in the March 2016 National Security Team meeting witnessed Sessions' response to Papadopoulos's offer, it would require maybe wait for the full report of the Mueller inquiry.