Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to FBI

Former Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his Kremlin-related contacts
AFP/Getty Images
Sophie Williams7 September 2018

President Trump's former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos​ has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI.

He is the first former campaign aide to be sentenced in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.

In October 2017, he pled guilty to one count of lying to FBI agents about the nature of his interactions with "foreign nationals" who he thought had close connections to senior government officials.

Mr Papadopoulos was a member of the campaign's foreign policy team, but Trump aides have said he played a limited role in the campaign and had no access to the candidate.

Court papers revealed that Mr Papadopoulos was told about the Russians possessing "dirt" on Democrat Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails" on April 26 2016, well before it became public that the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's emails had been hacked.

The interactions at the centre of the case included speaking with Russian intermediaries who were attempting to line up a meeting between Mr Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin and offering "dirt" on Mrs Clinton.

During the trial, Mr Papadopoulos apologised for his actions, telling a judge that he had made a "dreadful mistake" and was eager for redemption.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of up to six months, while defence lawyers asked for probation.

In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Papadopoulos said: "We all make mistakes in life, you know, I really hope to redeem myself in the eyes of my fellow countrymen, here in the United States."

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