Feinstein: Papadopoulos Guilty Plea Outlines Trump-Russia Communications

Washington—Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the guilty plea by George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to Donald Trump:

Papadopoulos’ full statement of the offense and plea agreement are available here.

“The guilty plea by George Papadopoulos reveals a series of communications from March 2016 through August 2016 between senior Trump campaign officials and individuals tied to the Russian government. This wasn’t an isolated event, but rather a web of contacts that permeated the Trump campaign. This is troubling to say the least.

“The plea deal outlines a March 31, 2016, campaign meeting, which Donald Trump attended, where a possible future meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin was discussed. Donald Trump even tweeted a photo of the meeting with Papadopoulos, which then-Senator Jeff Sessions also attended.”

An excerpt from Papadopoulos’ guilty plea follows:

9. On or about March 31,2016, defendant PAPADOPOULOS attended a "national security meeting" in Washington, D.C., with then-candidate Trump and other foreign policy advisors for the Campaign. When defendant PAPADOPOULOS introduced himself to the group, he stated, in sum and substance, that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin.

The plea agreement also outlines an April 26, 2016, meeting between Papadopoulos and his primary contact with Russian officials where they discussed efforts to get ‘dirt’ and ‘emails’ on the Clinton campaign from Russian officials.”

An excerpt from Papadopoulos’ guilty plea follows:

14. On or about Apri1 26, 2016, defendant PAPADOPOULOS met the Professor for breakfast at a London hotel. During this meeting, the Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS that he had just returned from a trip to Moscow where he had met with high-level Russian government officials. The Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS that on that trip he (the Professor) learned that the Russians had obtained “dirt” on then-candidate Clinton. The Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS, as defendant PAPADOPOULOS later described to the FBI, that “They [the Russians] have dirt on her”; “the Russians had emails of Clinton”; “they have thousands of emails.”

15. Following that conversation, defendant PAPADOPOULOS continued to correspond with Campaign officials, and continued to communicate with the Professor and the Russian MFA Connection, in an effort to arrange a meeting between the Campaign and the Russian government.

“This new information is significant and further highlights why the investigations into collusion, obstruction and Russian interference must continue.”