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‘Wonder why Comey left this out?’ Key parts of Papadopoulos transcripts reportedly omitted for spy warrants

April 9, 2020 | | Print Article
(Image: MSNBC screenshot)

Newly reviewed transcripts show that former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos had denied the campaign was involved in hacking the Democrat National Committee.

But government investigators glaringly failed to include the sections of the transcripts in warrants against Papadopoulos, who went to prison for lying to the FBI, according to a CBS News report.

A transcript of the conversation between Papadopoulos and an FBI confidential source less than two weeks before the 2016 election was reviewed by CBS News and investigative reporter Catherine Herridge noted how investigators’ choice to leave key portions out of warrant applications was cited in the report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz in December.

Papadopoulos took to Twitter himself, offering commentary on the “frame job.”

Speaking with the confidential source working for the FBI in October of 2016, Papadopoulos, a former adviser to then-candidate Donald Trump, denied that the campaign had been involved in the hack of the DNC’s email system, dismissing the very idea.

“You don’t think anyone from the Trump campaign had anything to do with the f***ing over, at the DNC?” an FBI CHS (confidential human source) asked in the recording.

“No,” Papadopoulos responded.

“Really?” the CHS pressed.

“No. I know that for a fact,” Papadopoulos asserted.

“How do you know that for a fact?” he was asked.

“‘Cause I go, I’ve been working with them for the last nine months. That’s (unintelligible) And all of this stuff has been happening, what, the last four months?” Papadopoulos responded, according to the transcript.

But the FBI source continued to question the possibility of anyone on the Trump campaign being secretly involved.

“But you don’t think anyone would have done it, like under, undercover or anything like that?” the CHS asked.

“No, I don’t think so…..There’s absolutely no reason…First of all, it’s illegal, you know, to do that s***,” the former Trump aide replied.

The transcript showed that Papadopoulos was also asked about Russia’s election meddling and whether “they have special interests.”

“I don’t think so. That’s all bull****. No one know’s who’s hacking— them,” Papadopoulos responded.

“You don’t think that they, that they hacked the, the DNC? Who hacked the f***ing DNC then?” the FBI source pressed.

“Could be the Chinese, could be the Iranians, it could be some Bernie, uh, supporters. Could be- Anonymous,” Papadopoulos said.

The conversations Papadopoulos had with foreign nationals were the spark that launched what became the Russia investigation and set off the surveillance warrant applications for Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

According to Herridge:

The failure by government investigators to include key sections of the Papadopoulos transcripts in the warrants, including denials the campaign “was collaborating with Russia or with outside groups like Wikileaks,” to surveil Page was listed among the 17 inaccuracies and omissions documented by Horowitz in his December report.

 

“Papadopoulos’s statement to an FBI CHS (confidential human source) in late October 2016 denying that the Trump campaign was involved in the circumstances of the DNC hack,” Horowitz had written.

He had added that since Papadopoulos had “no defense counsel,” the FBI and Justice Department were obligated to “over tell” the story and include a “full and accurate” presentation of the facts.

Herridge’s report was attacked by author and Newsweek columnist Seth Abramson in a lengthy rant on Twitter.

Abramson refuted parts of the report and said it “caters to stupid people who haven’t read Mueller’s report,” adding a slam of Papadopoulos.

His series of tweets and disparagement of Herridge and CBS News was torched by Twitter users.

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Frieda Powers
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