and...
Papadopoulos?
en.wikipedia.org
Papadopoulos was interviewed by FBI agents on January 27, 2017, regarding any Trump campaign connections with Russia. After the interrogation, on the advice of his counsel, Papadopoulos deactivated his
Facebook account, which contained correspondences with Russians, and created a new account.
[82] On July 27, 2017, Papadopoulos was arrested upon landing at
Washington-Dulles International Airport, placed in handcuffs and leg shackles, and put in a prison cell overnight for his arraignment the following day. He was released without bail and subsequently cooperated with Special Counsel
Robert Mueller in
his investigation.
[63]
On October 5, 2017, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in the
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to
making false statements to FBI agents relating to contacts he had with agents of the Russian government while working for the Trump campaign.
[83][48] The guilty plea was part of a
plea bargain reflecting his cooperation with the Mueller investigation.
[63] Papadopoulos's arrest and guilty plea became public on October 30, 2017, when court documents showing the guilty plea were
unsealed.
[84] Following his guilty plea, Trump described Papadopoulos as a "young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar" and said few people in his campaign had heard about Papadopoulos.
[85][86] FactCheck.org and
PolitiFact, among others, noted that during the campaign, Trump, reading from a script, named Papadopoulos as one of his five foreign policy advisers—alongside
Keith Kellogg,
Carter Page,
Walid Phares and
Joseph Schmitz—and described Papadopoulos as an "excellent guy".
[87][88][46][89]
In a sentencing memorandum released on August 17, 2018, prosecutors stated that a sentence of zero to six months was "appropriate and warranted," noting that Papadopoulos had repeatedly lied to investigators and did not provide "substantial assistance" to the investigation,
[90] and that his lies had interfered with the investigators' ability in their February 11, 2017 interview of Joseph Mifsud to question and if necessary detain him. Mifsud left the United States about two weeks after Papadopoulos's January 27 interview with the FBI.
[91] On September 7, 2018, Papadopoulos was sentenced to 14 days in prison, 12 months of supervised release, and 200 hours of community service;
[92][93] he was also fined $9,500. He began serving his 14-day sentence on November 26, 2018, at
FCI Oxford in
Oxford, Wisconsin, and was released 12 days later on December 7, 2018.
[94][95]
