The Trigger For The FBI's Trump Campaign Investigation: Loose Lips

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.

As they we say, loose lips sink ships shits.

BONUS:  Tengrain at MPS has a helpful timeline.

BONUS II:  More analysis and context.

Former Trump Advisor Pleads Guilty To Lying To FBI - Now Cooperating With Mueller

Drip, drip, drip, whoosh:

A foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to FBI agents.  

George Papadopoulos, 30, pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, but the case wasn’t unsealed until Monday, when two other Trump associates were indicted by a federal grand jury. Papadopoulos reached a plea deal with prosecutors, and has since been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.  

Prosecutors’ statement of the offense alleges Papadopoulos “made material false statements and material omissions” during a Jan. 27 interview with the FBI. He was arrested July 27. Prosecutors agreed to recommend between no prison time to six months under the plea agreement.

Papadopoulos told the FBI an overseas professor had “told him about the Russians possessing ‘dirt’ on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of ‘thousands of emails,’ but stated multiple times that he learned that information prior to joining the campaign,” according to court documents. In fact, Papadopoulos was contacted after he learned he’d be joining the campaign, and the professor only mentioned the “thousands of emails” after he’d been on the Trump campaign for more than a month. 

The professor, the statement indicates, had “substantial connections to Russian government officials” even though Papadopoulos claimed the professor was “a nothing.”  (our emphasis)

"... and has been cooperating with special counsel Robert Mueller's probe..." You don't have to be a legal beagle to see that the timing of this statement on the day of the Manafort and Gates indictments is meant to pressure them other Trumpers ensnared in this Russian collusion to cooperate as well. Here's the PDF of the unsealed indictment against Papadopoulos.

Oh, and this is recent and ties directly to collusion with Russia, Trump TV Fox "News."

BONUS: Comment from one who knows a little about prosecutions --

Special Counsel Mueller appears to have a cooperating witness, George Papadopoulos. That is significant. Time will tell how significant.

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) October 30, 2017