DAY 282: Robert Mueller charges Paul Manafort and George Papadopulos

Special Counserl Robert Mueller charged former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump's advisor George Papadopoulos as as result of the Russia investigation.

Manafort and his associate Rick Gates were indicted over charges of money laundering and other illegal activities related to foreign businesses. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Much more damaging are the charges against George Papadopuolos, a Trump adviser and campaign aide who was arrested in July for lying to the FBI about his contacts with a Russian professor who offered dirt on Hillary Clinton and tried to set up a meeting with Trump. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty.

According to The New York Times:

Mr. Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials, court records show. Attempts to reach Mr. Papadopoulos were not successful.

Mr. Papadopoulos told the F.B.I. in January that the professor was “a nothing.” But Mr. Papadopoulos now acknowledges that he knew the professor had “substantial connections to Russian government officials.”

The Russian professor claimed he had access via the Kremlin to emails damaging to Hillary Clinton. The claim was made before the Podesta emails were published by WikiLeaks.

The White House claimed Papadopoulos "was a member of a volunteer advisory council that met one time over the course of a year" with the Trump campaign. But a photo shows Papadopoulos in a very tight meeting with Trump himself.

And here's Papadopoulos with Trump at a NATIONAL SECURTY meeting AFTER meeting with the Russians.#IndictmentMonday#MarchForTruth pic.twitter.com/lRCrrNDcVG

— Holly O'Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) October 30, 2017

Not only that, but Trump himself praised Papadopoulos during his campaig:

Remember that on March 21, 2016 Trump praised George Papadopoulos when discussing his campaign's foreign policy team. pic.twitter.com/n4hSNIXjq0

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 30, 2017

Now the Trump administration is trying its hardest to claim Papadopoulos had very little to do with the Trump campaign.

Which isn interesting, since that was the same story the Trump campaign used when Manafort was removed from being campaign chair.

Trump, of course has claimed that the money laundering charges against Manafort are for activities that pre-date the Trump campaign. One has to wonder, though, if the indictment is actually a way for Mueller to set up negotiations with Manafort so be can give him information on Trump.

By the way: Papadopoulos already spilled the beans. If Manafort does as well, Trump could be in serious trouble.