That Russia investigation. First they told us it began with a FISA warrant on Carter Page, who appeared in a Michael Isikoff story in September 2016 and his life has been upended ever since.
As that fell apart, they said no, it wasn’t Carter Page. It was George Papadopoulos. Pay close attention to what is said about him.
WASHINGTON — 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.
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.
Now let’s look at how a number of liberal outlets reported it. The Telegraph:
The investigation into possible collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia was reportedly sparked by a conversation that took place over a drink in a London bar.
George Papadopoulos, who was a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, was said to have disclosed to a senior Australian diplomat in the bar that Russia had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
…
Mr Papadopoulos was said to have been given the information about the emails by a friend with Russian contacts.
He was told there were “thousands of emails” that may embarrass Mrs Clinton and her campaign.
CNN:
George Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat that Russia had “political dirt” on Hillary Clinton in May of last year, a conversation that might have played a role in the FBI’s decision to open an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, according to a report published Saturday.
The New York Times reported that Papadopoulos, then a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s campaign, was drinking at an upscale London bar when he told Australia’s top diplomat in Britain, Alexander Downer, that Russia had political information on Clinton.
A few weeks before their meeting, Papadopoulos was told Moscow had thousands of emails relating to Clinton, CNN has reported.
NBC:
WASHINGTON — An Australian diplomat’s tip appears to have helped persuade the FBI to investigate Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible coordination with the Trump campaign, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told the diplomat, Alexander Downer, during a meeting in London in May 2016 that Russia had thousands of emails that would embarrass Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the report said. Downer, a former foreign minister, is Australia’s top diplomat in Britain.
(emphases mine)
Notice how the stories either claim outright that Papadopoulos told Downer that Russia had the emails or they try to convince you it did. They all indicate that Papadopoulos told Downer that Russia had “dirt” on Clinton.
OK, now let’s see what Downer actually said. Chuck Ross:
Over drinks, Papadopoulos mentioned Russians had information on Hillary Clinton that could prove damaging, Downer told The Australian in an April 28 interview.
There was no indication in the short exchange with Papadopoulos that Trump was aware of the damaging information, Downer also said.
“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.
And about that “dirt”:
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.”
About that “heavy drinking”?
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.”
No dirt, No heavy drinking. No emails.
I find the fact that Downer sought out Papadopoulos extremely interesting. That dovetails with what I have been saying all along. It was a set-up.
Papadopoulos named Trump advisor.
Within two weeks, Josef Mifsud finds him.
Mifsud tells Papadopoulos that the Russians have hillary’s emails.
Downer seeks out Papadopoulos.
Papadopoulos doesn’t drink heavily or speak of dirt or emails.
Via Sam Clovis, Stefan Halper contacts Papadopoulos and lures him to England, where he presses Papadopoulos for information on the Clinton emails (fed to him by Josef Mifsud) and has a young woman flirt with Papadopoulos. That woman contact was instrumental in fabricating charges against Papadopoulos. Halper is said to have been irritated by Papadopoulos’ lack of knowledge about the emails.
The FBI scares Papadopoulos into lying about not doing anything illegal. They nail him and squeeze him for dirt on Trump that was fed to Papadopoulos by Mifsud and which Stefan Halper tried to extract from Papadopoulos.
It’s almost as if the Mueller framed Papadopoulos out of spite.
The basis for opening the investigation was a fraud. The FISA warrant was based on a lie. It was all a lie. What we really need to hear testimony from Rob Goldstone, Josef Mifsud and Stefan Halper.
I won’t be holding my breath.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.