Seth Abramson on Pappadopoulos sentencing

[triron]

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4807546-Papadopoulos-defense-sentencing-memo.html

2/ The memo confirms that working for Trump was Papadopoulos' dream job; he was hired in "early" March 2016; and within a week he was "traveling in Italy." I think we are very close to confirming here that the *campaign* sent him to Italy, where Mifsud "happened" to find him.

3/ No one gets their dream job, then immediately goes on vacation. And Simona Mangiante has said Papadopoulos' position is that everything he did was campaign-sanctioned. So who sent Papadopoulos to Italy to be "found" by Mifsud? I don't think it was Clovis. I think it was Flynn.
15h15 hours ago

4/ Clovis has no national security expertise; that was his big defense, in fact, for hiring Page and Papadopoulos. But Trump had *one* (only one) NatSec adviser on the day he hired Papadopoulos, and it was *Flynn*. And they'd both been doing work on energy issues with Ben Carson.

5/ The memo confirms what we already know: Clovis surprised Papadopoulos by saying Russia was going to be a major issue in the campaign. Again I ask, who came up with that? Not Clovis. So who? Once again it seems clear that it was Flynn in conjunction with Trump who decided that.

6/ Is it possible Papadopoulos got his dream job, said "Later, going on vacation!" and then was by total coincidence stumbled upon by a Kremlin agent while traipsing about Italy? Sure, anything is possible. But that doesn't comport with common sense or *any* of the facts we have.

7/ The bombshell: Papadopoulos says Trump "nodded with approval" when he was told Papadopoulos was a Kremlin intermediary. And Sessions "liked the idea." That means Sessions lied to Congress. Gordon lied to media. Schmitz lied. A lot of people in that March 31, 2016 meeting lied.


8/ Now another bombshell: we knew Papadopoulos knew Sergei Millian, but we didn't know that when the FBI came to see Papadopoulos he *assumed they wanted to talk about Millian*. This adds a wrinkle to the question of how Papadopoulos got his job and how Mifsud found him in Italy.

9/ Understand that there were *very* few methods for Papadopoulos to get the job he did, for a *host* of reasons. Something has to explain him being hired and going to Italy. The memo emphasizes *both* possible reasons—a connection to Michael Flynn and/or a connection to Millian.

10/ The memo confirms Papadopoulos was asked by the FBI to try to procure additional information from his compatriots through clandestine means. Wow—when I think of all the garbage I took when I said that it was plausible to think the FBI would ask him to do that! Well, they did.

11/ Now here is where I get flummoxed: the memo appears to *maintain* the charade that Papadopoulos never told *anyone* on the campaign about the emails, even though he told them everything else. The feds have already said they don't believe him, and do you blame them? Would you?

12/ Case-in-point: Papadopoulos appears say (get this) that he told the *Greek Foreign Minister* about the emails but *not* anyone on the Trump campaign. He *worked* for the Trump campaign, and they *sent* him to Greece to *meet* the Foreign Minister! So how does that make sense?

13/ I've known many judges, and I can tell you they *won't* like Papadopoulos and his lawyer arguing that Van der Zwaan was more culpable than Papadopoulos because he "destroyed evidence." Bad move by Papadopoulos' attorney, because guess what—Papadopoulos destroyed evidence too.

14/ Here's what I think, based on my experience as a criminal defense attorney: I think George Papadopoulos knows (and told the FBI) *far* more than what we see here, even though we've got some bombshells. I think his attorney carefully determined what facts he could reveal here.

15/ So this memo has a bombshell that should be and *will* be national news. The March 31, 2016 meeting I argued was critical long before that was accepted by the media has turned out to be critical—deeply inculpatory for Trump. But there's a whole iceberg beneath this memo.

PS/ Trump's first move will be to call Papadopoulos a liar about what happened on March 31, 2016. Most likely, Sessions stays quiet. Why? Well, we know from major-media reports at least *three* attendees at the March 31, 2016 meeting
concur with Papadopoulos—and told Mueller so.

End of conversation

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

1. Probation? Good grief. I'm sure that IS what the defense requests.

[Takket]

2. tweet #7 is big... BUT

Mueller needs more supporting evidence. testifying that you saw someone nod with approval to a plan in court isn't going to hold up with a jury. i'm sure mueller has much much more but that alone isn't going to get someone convicted.

[triron]

3. Depends on jury and juror. Disagree.

But I suspect Cohen (at least him) can add corroborating evidence.

[uponit7771]

6. +1

[triron]

4. knr

[Grasswire2]

5. See the new stuff from this afternoon

Seth's mind is a-whirling.

[triron]

7. Well, there's this:

Link to tweet

[OnDoutside]

8. Greek Foreign Minister in 2016 was (and is) Nikos Kotzias. Here's him meeting someone on May 28

2016

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-greece-may-28-2016-greeces-foreign-minister-nikos-kotzias-russias-104782564.html



And

https://www.thenationalherald.com/143991/another-lecture-foreign-minister-kotzias-favor-russia/

Another lecture by Foreign Minister Kotzias in favor of… Russia

December 9, 2016

Apparently, professor and Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias is ideologically biased in favor of Russia. And he has been for a long time, in fact from the time when Russia was a part of the Soviet Union.

So he remembers it at every given opportunity. From the Cyprus issue, to meetings between the foreign ministers of NATO.

He always rattles off a… politico-historical lecture in favor of Russia and its Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
I do not think he does this because he believes that he will sway the measures against him and the Russian policy of moderation in general.
But he probably does so to curry favor with Moscow.

The purpose is unknown.

But, in any case, it would be beneficial if the Greek Government would coordinate its policy.

For the Finance Minister cannot seek understanding from Europe – and the US – while the Foreign Minister provokes his NATO colleagues with speeches in favor of the Russians, i.e. their adversary.
It is difficult to interpret the Greek Foreign Minister’s provocative attitude toward other countries belonging to the same alliance.
Hopefully the interview which his comrade former Cypriot President Demetris Christofias gave to Greek SKAI TV may be of use to him.
In this interview, the still unwitting Christofias revealed that despite his numerous requests from Putin for a loan of a few billion euros in order to avoid the haircut on Cypriot bank deposits, Putin refused.
And the inadequate Christofias complains about Putin preferring to cooperate with German Chancellor Angela Merkel than with him.

What can you say to him? That from the moment that he does not comprehend such fundamental things, but instead acts with… ideological blinders, he possibly may not have being fitting to be the president of a country?
And worst of all: Christofias also revealed in the same interview that he conveyed his experience with Putin to Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras when he visited Cyprus after being elected, but did not convince him.

Conversely, the Tsipras and former minister Panagiotis Lafazanis went on their journey – pilgrimage to Putin and naturally left empty-handed

Putin didn’t even grant them permission to use the banknote printing press, according to French President François Hollande.

Yet, Foreign Minister Kotzias continues his nonsense.

[KelleyKramer]

9. What memo is he referring to?

[triron]

10. kick for visibility