The New York Times is breaking a big story affecting the timetable of the Trump- Russia scandal, specifically what triggered the the FBI's counter- intelligence investigation into the Trump campaign. This new information ties a Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, to knowledge of Russian "dirt" on Hillary Clinton in May 2016, and involves a highly credible source -- an allied intelligence service. It seriously undercuts efforts by Trump bootlicks in the House and Senate to focus on conspiracy theories concerning the "pee dossier" in order to cast doubt on the origin and integrity of the FBI's investigation. All because the Trump adviser got three sheets to the wind:
During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.
About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.
Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role. [snip]
The information that Mr. Papadopoulos gave to the Australians answers one of the lingering mysteries of the past year: What so alarmed American officials to provoke the F.B.I. to open a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign months before the presidential election?
It was not, as Mr. Trump and other politicians have alleged, a dossier compiled by a former British spy hired by a rival campaign. Instead, it was firsthand information from one of America’s closest intelligence allies. (our emphasis)Papadopoulos had pled guilty to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation. It was security guard Frank Wills whose discovery of tape on a door lock at the Watergate complex led to a series of events that ultimately brought down Richard Nixon. Maybe a self- impressed hustler who couldn't hold his liquor will be the one who performed the same function for teetotaling nitwit Donald "Rump" Trump.
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BONUS: Tengrain at MPS has a helpful timeline.
BONUS II: More analysis and context.
