To the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel to see George Papadopoulos, fresh from 12 days in jail, address the American Priority Conference. Cockburn knows how to enjoy his weekends.
Papadopoulos and his wife Simona Mangiante presented their story together as a sort of ‘enemies of the deep state’ romance. Two young hearts caught up in globalist conspiracy to stop Trump, but whose love has conquered adversity. ‘My story is a story of loyalty and support,’ said Papadopoulos. ‘I thought there was something heroic about him,’ said Simona. Cockburn was moved.
Papadopoulos, who was convicted of lying to the FBI, insists he ‘has never met a Russian agent in his life. …. I felt I was more under scrutiny for helping Trump win than anything nefarious I did against my country.’
He says he was set up by western intelligence the federal government. He was approached by US government officials in London, namely Terrence Dudley and Gregory Baker, and ‘wined and dined as if I was Marilyn Monroe’. He says he didn’t understand why these agents were so interested in him but that he didn’t mind being taken out for a $700 dinner.
Quite amusingly, Simona added that two days ago Gregory Baker has messaged her on LinkedIn. Papadopoulos seemed genuinely surprised by this news. ‘It’s difficult, he’s been in prison,’ she said.
There seems to some confusion about what role Papadopoulos was playing on the campaign. Team Trump says he was just a minor figure, a ‘coffee boy.’ But Papadopoulos says he exchanged a number of text messages with Corey Lewandowski. He also suggests that he was in contact with the campaign when during his now infamous time to London. After he caused an international story by suggesting that Prime Minister David Cameron should say sorry for calling candidate Trump ‘stupid, divisive and wrong’, he claimed he was texted by Hope Hicks telling him, ‘Don’t worry, you’re cool.’
What seems certain is that Papadopoulos was not the brains behind a massively sophisticated plot to collude with Russia.
