During the course of the interview, defendant PAPADOPOULOS made numerous false statements and omitted material facts regarding the conduct and communications described above, and, in particular, lied about the extent, timing, and nature of his communications with the Professor, the Female Russian National, and the Russian MFA Connection.
False Statement: PAPADOPOULOS Met the Professor and Learned About Russian "Dirt " Before He Joined The Campaign
During his interview with the FBI, defendant PAPADOPOULOS acknowledged that he met the Professor and that the Professor told him the Russians had "dirt" on then candidate Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails," but defendant PAPADOPOULOS stated multiple times that those communications occurred prior to when he joined the Campaign. Defendant PAPADOPOULOS told the FBI: "This isn't like he [the Professor]'s messaging me while I'm in April with Trump"; " I wasn't even on the Trump team, that wasn't even on the radar"; " I wasn't even on Trump's orbit[] at this time"; and "This was a year ago, this was before I even got with Trump." He also said it was a "very strange coincidence'' to be told of the "dirt" before he started working for the Campaign.
In truth and in fact, however, and as set forth above, defendant PAPADOPOULOS met the Professor for the first time on or about March 14, 2016, after defendant PAPADOPOULOS had already learned he would be a foreign policy advisor for the Campaign; the Professor showed interest in defendant PAPADOPOULOS only after learning of his role on the Campaign; and the Professor told defendant PAPADOPOULOS about the Russians possessing "dirt" on then-candidate Clinton in late April 2016, more than a month after defendant PAPADOPOULOS had joined the Campaign.