Papadopoulos’ Lawyers: Trump ‘Nodded in Approval’ at Putin Meeting Proposal

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser convicted of lying to the FBI during the Russia investigation, has said both President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions supported his idea to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin during the 2016 campaign. In court documents filed late Friday, Papadopoulos’ lawyers appeared to directly contradict Sessions’ own sworn testimony to Congress about the suggested Putin summit. Sessions said he’d “pushed back” against the idea when Papadopoulos first suggested it at a foreign policy meeting in March 2016. “Eager to show his value to the campaign, George announced at the meeting that he had connections that could facilitate a foreign policy meeting between Mr. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Mr. Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr. Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it,” Papadopoulos’ lawyers said. The new court filing is part of a bid by Papadopoulos’ lawyers to have his one-year probation sentence ended immediately after his sentencing hearing on Sept. 7.