It was revealed Monday that George Papadopoulos, a former Trump foreign policy adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia.
The path from his first conversations with a professor he believed could connect him to Russian government officials to eventual arrest spanned more than a year. Papadopoulos wanted to broker a foreign policy trip, where Russian officials could meet with members of the campaign and, possibly, then-candidate Donald Trump.
Papadopoulos admitted that he lied to the FBI about correspondence with three individuals. Papadopoulos believed they all had connections with the Russian government in one way or another. Two of those individuals are Russian. In court documents, the FBI used pseudonyms like “The Professor” to identify these contacts and persons within the Trump campaign. Papadopoulos met with “The Professor” and “Female Russian National.”
Papadopoulos’ conversations were relayed and discussed with the Trump campaign on many occasions. He sought to improve his standing in the campaign by offering a connection to Russia. Ultimately, the foreign policy trip he sought did not materialize.
Papadopoulos lied to the FBI about when his conversations occurred. His interactions occurred over a period of months while working for the Trump campaign. He originally told the FBI they happened earlier.
This timeline is based on two court documents and other publicly available information.
CNN’s Deborah Doft and Nima Ahmed contributed to this report.
