There's pleny of evidence showing that the FBI started sending spies to infiltrate the Trump campaign long before that.
Lots of things in the story made no sense. The dossier, for instance, was briefed to the FBI about a month before the Papadopoulos story made its way, second hand, to the FBI. One wonders what sort of standard for plausibility one needed to start an investigation on any story that involved the word “Australian” and phrase “heavy drinking” in close proximity to one another.
On April 28, the Austalian, Alexander Downer who was the former top Australian diplomat in Britain, gave an interview to The Australian.
The story is behind paywall, but the Daily Caller’s Chuck Ross, perhaps the only reporter in the nation who is actually covering the Mueller investigation rather than taking dictation from FBI and Justice department people who are trying to hide their own malfeasance,
gives the best parts.
“By the way, nothing [Papadopoulos] said in that conversation indicated Trump himself had been conspiring with the Russians to collect information on Hillary Clinton. It was just that this guy, [Papadopoulos], clearly knew that the Russians did have material on Hillary Clinton — but whether Trump knew or not?” Downer explained.
“He didn’t say Trump knew or that Trump was in any way involved in this. He said it was about Russians and Hillary Clinton; it wasn’t about Trump,” Downer told The Australian.
Papadopoulos’s reference to Clinton material was vague, Downer suggested.
“He didn’t say dirt; he said material that could be damaging to her. No, he said it would be damaging. He didn’t say what it was.”
…
Downer sent a cable back to Australian government authorities within 48 hours of the Papadopoulos encounter. The information was not provided to the FBI until months later when Joe Hockey, Australia’s ambassador to the U.S., passed it to American authorities in late July 2016. He was prompted to share the information by WikiLeaks’ release of hacked DNC emails.
…
Downer said he felt the information “seemed quite interesting” and “was worth reporting.”
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Downer also suggested the meeting was brief and Papadopoulos was not drunk, as has been widely reported. According to the profile, Downer and Papadopoulos spoke over a “single short drink.”
Downer also confirmed he confronted Papadopoulos over his comments about then-British Prime Minister David Cameron. Papadopoulos was quoted in the British press a week before the Kensington Wine Room meeting, calling on Cameron to apologize for making negative comments about Trump.
Downer, it seems, asked to meet Papadopoulos to jerk a knot in his butt for his comments about David Cameron. There was a conversation in which Papadopoulos opined that the Russians were going to drop “damaging” material on Hillary at some point. Downer dutifully reported the meeting and conversation. Unless Downer is lying, there is nothing here that warranted the FBI using it as the main reason for opening an investigation. In fact, if this is the standard for opening a counterintelligence investigation on a presidential campaign, then there are, in fact, no standards whatsoever.
