George Papadopoulos met with three members of the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees behind closed doors Thursday and seems to have given one of Trump's staunchest congressional allies conspiratorial information he now is using to fuel his ongoing attacks on the Russia investigation.
With Congress in recess until after the midterm elections, however, only three members were present: Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) and Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Meadows called Papadopoulos a “critical witness,” noting that he’s “the person who supposedly was the whole reason we have this Russian collusion investigation going on.” Papadopoulos’ loose talk overseas about Russians having “dirt” on Democrat Hillary Clinton prompted an FBI investigation into election interference.
“What we’re finding without talking about specifics of what’s going on is that the whole reason that this investigation was opened up was certainly not one built on a solid foundation,” Meadows told reporters. He added that some Justice Department and FBI staffers should be referred to the DOJ’s Office of Professional Responsibility "to determine whether proper protocol was followed, and I’m certainly willing to encourage that.”
(...)
“His testimony here today is certainly unique and eye-opening and very different in terms of what I had come to understand from other interviewers, seeing it from other interviews that we’ve had as it relates to FBI agents and DOJ officials,” Meadows added. “To see it from his perspective gives me great pause and concern.”
Papadopoulos will be serving two weeks in prison for lying to the FBI.
Raskin, meanwhile, reminded reporters of Papadopoulos’ conviction — he pleaded guilty last month to lying to the FBI about his communications with a foreign professor and was sentenced to 14 days in federal prison — suggesting his testimony should be taken with a grain of salt.
The proximity between Capitol Hill and Raskin’s Maryland district secured him a front row seat to what he called “the continuing kangaroo court of the Republican efforts to undermine the special counsel.” “I see this whole thing as a footnote to a sideshow of a wild goose chase,” he said. “There is a right-wing echo chamber that traffics in rumors and lies and fake news, and they all said it back to each other.”
Papadopoulos tweeted Thursday evening, claiming he does not believe in partisan politics but thanking only the two Republican members who listened to his testimony.
Meadows: Papadopoulos’ House interview shows weakness of Mueller’s probe (Politico)