Special Counsel Robert Mueller has been looking into the Trump campaign’s first national security committee meeting, held in March 2016, because of campaign adviser George Papadopoulos’ suggestion that Donald Trump meet with Russian government officials, including Vladimir Putin.
The Daily Caller is told by a source familiar with the probe that Trump’s reaction to the proposal from the 30-year-old campaign aide is part of Mueller’s investigation, though it is unclear how significant it is to the sprawling probe being led by the former FBI director.
The meeting was held on March 31, 2016 and was attended by Trump, then-Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and around 10 members of the newly-formed national security advisory committee. It is the only meeting in which Trump and Papadopoulos are known to have attended together. The campaign volunteer attended other meetings in which Sessions was involved.
Mueller’s interest in the meeting became apparent earlier this week when the Office of the Special Counsel mentioned it in a statement of offense related to a plea deal Papadopoulos accepted earlier this month.
Papadopoulos was facing charges for lying to the FBI during interviews earlier this year about his contacts with Russians during 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 statement of offense reads.
George Papadopoulos (3rd L) attends Trump campaign’s national security meeting in Washington, D.C. U.S. on March 31, 2016. Social Media/Handout via REUTERS
A source in the meeting tells TheDC that Trump “did not say ‘yes’ and did not say ‘no,'” to Papadopoulos’ proposal. CNN first reported the detail on Wednesday.
Three other advisers dismissed Papadopoulos’ idea before Sessions, now the attorney general, stepped in to completely shoot it down. TheDC has previously reported that Sessions said something to the effect of, “Nope, not going there.” (RELATED: Trump Adviser Proposed Meeting With Russians, Was Shot Down By Sessions)
The source could not elaborate on Trump’s reaction because of its significance to Mueller’s investigation.
Papadopoulos’ activities just after joining the campaign are of significant interest to Mueller’s team, the recent court filings show.
Papadopoulos, a former intern at the conservative Hudson Institute, officially started on the campaign on March 21, 2016. He was informed by campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis of his new position on March 6.
In the interim, Papadopoulos met a London-based professor during a trip to Italy. Papadopoulos and the professor, now identified as Joseph Mifsud, discussed setting up meetings between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials.
Campaign emails show that Papadopoulos also provided updates about those discussions to Trump campaign officials.
Perhaps the most significant revelation in Mueller’s statement of offense is Papadopoulos’ claim that Mifsud told him on April 26, 2016 that he had learned from Russian officials in Moscow that the government had obtained “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands” of her emails.
That conversation occurred a month after Russian hackers stole emails from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. It was also two months before the first public reports that Russian hackers released emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee.
Papadopoulos emailed campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis, chairman Paul Manafort and campaign manager Corey Lewandowski with details of offers he had received from Mifsud and Ivan Timofeev, the head of a Russian think tank who claimed to have ties to the Russian government. Papadopoulos was introduced to Timofeev through Mifsud.
Papadopoulos also emailed a “senior policy adviser” on April 27, 2016, the day after his meeting with Mifsud, in which he wrote that he had “some interesting messages coming in from Moscow.”
It is not clear who that adviser is or whether Papadopoulos told the person of the emails.
Campaign emails show that some Trump campaign officials, including Clovis, offered encouragement to some of Papadopoulos’ suggestions, particularly regarding meetings between Russian government officials and the campaign.
In an email on Aug. 15, 2016, Clovis said that he “would encourage” Papadopoulos and another campaign adviser to hold an off the record meeting with Russian officials.
Clovis issued a statement through his attorney on Tuesday asserting that he offered the encouragement just to be nice.
Another senior campaign official told TheDC that Clovis and other senior staffers treated lower level campaign volunteers with kid gloves, encouraging them in some ways but not taking their ideas seriously.
A spokeswoman for Sessions declined to comment on Trump’s response to Papadopoulos’ remarks during the meeting.
Ty Cobb, the White House special counsel, downplayed Papadopoulos’ role on the campaign or the significance of his attempts to broker meetings with Russians.
“He was an unpaid intern with virtually no role at all and is a convicted felon for intentionally lying to the FBI about his own wrongdoing NOT any conduct of the campaign,” Cobb told TheDC.