Drunken Bragging By Trump Campaign Staffer Led To Start Of Russia Probe: REPORT

During the Second World War, a familiar phrase was used that indicated how important it was for everyone in the military and intelligence community to not talk about the work they were doing because enemy spies might be listening: Loose lips sink ships.

But apparently, no one told that to former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who, according to The New York Times, touched off the Russia investigation by bragging in a London bar about having “dirt” on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton:

“During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.

“About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.”


The Times also notes that the boasts by Papadopoulos were what alerted U.S. intelligence to the fact that someone was attempting to influence the 2016 presidential election:

Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role.”

Papadopoulos pled guilty to a charge of lying to the FBI in October. Ever since then, the White House has sought to portray him as little more than a “coffee boy,” even though he was named as a top campaign adviser by Donald Trump himself. Papadopoulos is now cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller and could have information that incriminates both Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, among others.

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

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