Former Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty lying to the FBI, has admitted he did it out of loyalty to President Trump.
Papadopoulos, the foreign policy aide to President Trump admitted to misleading federal investigators about the relationships he had maintained between himself and a professor who is believed to have a strong connection to Russia. According to court documents the professor has a “substantial connections to Russian government officials.”
ABC News reports he lied because he didn’t want to go against President Trump’s public denials made about his campaign being in contact with Russian officials.
Trump has been very vocal about denying a connection between his campaign and Russia. When he was asked about Russia connections in January, he proclaimed, “It’s all fake news.” He added, “It’s phony stuff. It didn’t happen.”
WATCH: Trump responds to Russia report
Papadopoulos met with FBI agents conducting investigating the connections to Russia and he later acknowledged he lied about meeting with certain contacts in Russia. Federal court filings show Papadopoulos lied about his meeting with the Russian professor by saying the meeting took place before he became Trump’s foreign advisor. The document indicates the Russian professor “only took interest in defendant Papadopoulos because of his status with the Campaign.”
After Papadopoulos made the plea deal with the FBI, Trump took to Twitter to say Papadopoulos was a “low level volunteer” and that few people knew him. But according to ABC News, Papadopoulos made trips to several countries and met with ambassadors and foreign officials where he was introduced as Trump’s advisor.
….came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017
George Papadopoulos during a national security meeting
