Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat in May 2016 that Russia had political dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
The conversation between Papadopoulos and the diplomat, Alexander Downer, in London was a driving factor behind the FBI’s decision to open a counter-intelligence investigation of Moscow’s contacts with the Donald Trump campaign, The Times reported.
Two months after the meeting, Australian officials passed the information that came from Papadopoulos to their American counterparts when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, according to the newspaper, which cited four current and former U.S. and foreign officials.
Besides the information from the Australians, the probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigation was also propelled by intelligence from other friendly governments, including the British and Dutch, The Times said.
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty on October 30 to lying to FBI agents about contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials. It was the first criminal charge alleging links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
The White House has played down the former aide’s role, saying it was “extremely limited” and that any actions he took would have been on his own.
The New York Times , however, reported that Papadopoulos helped set up a meeting between Mr. Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and edited the outline of Mr. Trump’s first major foreign policy speech in April 2016.
