How Key Is Former Trump Advisor George Papadopoulos in Mueller’s Russia Probe? He May Have Worn a Wire.

Who Has He Been Talking To?

George Papadopoulos, the Trump campaign foreign policy advisor who – it was learned Monday morning – secretly pled guilty to lying to the FBI in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe earlier this month, may be the source of a good deal more intel than we know today.

Papadopoulos reportedly attempted to meet with Russia President Vladimir Putin’s team in an attempt to get “dirt” on Donald Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

According to several reporters, an article in Vox, and the indictment to which Papadopoulos pled guilty, he acted for the FBI as a “proactive cooperator.”

What does that mean?

In short, he was willing to act to help the FBI gain more intelligence and evidence against those they are investigating.

The Toronto Star’s Daniel Dale reports that means Papadopoulos may have been wearing a wire – a hidden microphone – when speaking with Trump campaign associates or others under investigation.

And he was arrested in July. So, possibly for three months, Papadopoulos could have been helping the FBI.

Vanity Fair contributing editor Kurt Eichenwald confirms:

Former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti‏ suggests Papadopoulos is helping provide/obtain evidence:

Former US Attorney Joyce Alene:

If all that weren’t enough, there’s Vox:

Mueller’s team describes Papadopoulos as a “proactive cooperator.” That’s a big deal.

Here’s why: Mueller purposely sealed the indictment and kept the arrest secret so that others wouldn’t know Papadopoulos was working with his team — because the probe might be using Papadopoulos to obtain even more information on possible Trump-Russia collusion.

Vox adds that this is just more evidence of Russian attempts to “infiltrate the Trump campaign.”

But what seems clear is that, as NBC’s Ken Dilanian notes, what happened to Papadopoulos was a classic way for Kremlin-connected individuals to infiltrate the Trump campaign. The game plan is to latch onto a low-level staffer, meet with him or her, and use him or her to set up higher-level contacts in the campaign.

So it’s possible that Papadopoulos also has a lot to tell Mueller’s team about how Kremlin-tied people tried to finagle their way into the heart of Trumpworld.

Earlier Monday White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders sought to minimize the role Papadopoulos played in the campaign, calling him an unpaid “volunteer” who only attended one meeting of his group.

The Center for American Progress posted this image today:

In a stunning moment too, Huckabee Sanders called former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort who was hired “to handle the delegate process… and he was dismissed not too long after that.”

To be clear, Manafort was the campaign’s manager from June through August.

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

Image via Wikimedia

If you find NCRM valuable, would you please consider making a donation to support our independent journalism?