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WASHINGTON President Donald Trump and his surrogates and supporters attempted to distance the president from George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser who sought to connect the Trump campaign to Russian officials and then lied to FBI agents about dirt he was offered on Hillary Clinton , by belittling the 30-year-old man as a young, low-level staffer who had little access to the president.

The public revelation of Papadopoulos guilty plea Monday was a bigger bombshell than the indictment of Trumps former campaign manager Paul Manafort and longtime associate Rick Gates. Papadopoulos, who was quietly arrested back in July, admitted in a closed court hearing earlier this month that he lied to the FBI in January about his communications with a professor with close ties to Russia who had offered up information on Trumps 2016 election opponent.

In a pair of tweets Tuesday, the president attacked the media over the news that three former Trump campaign advisers who are facing charges as part of special prosecutor Robert Muellers probe into possible Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election. The president said there was no collusion and that few people knew Papadopoulos, whom Trump characterized as a young, low level volunteer who he claimed was proven to be a liar.

....came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!

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....came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!
Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2017

Sarah Huckabee Sanders struck a similar note from the White House podium on Tuesday afternoon. He was somebody that played a minimal role, she said. Michael Caputo, a former Trump campaign adviser, said on CNN that he had never heard of Papadopoulos whom he diminished as the coffee boy.

During a segment on his Fox News show, vocal Trump supporter Sean Hannity appeared to downplay the seriousness of Papadopoulos admitting that he lied to the FBI due to the former advisers young age at the time that the crime was committed. He also said he knew everyone in the Trump campaign and had never heard of Papadopoulos until the news of his plea agreement became public.

The attempts at diminishing Papadopoulos doesnt jibe with Trumps own description of him from March 2016 when, during an interview with The Washington Post, Trump named Papadopoulos as one of his key advisers, calling him an excellent guy. That same month, Trump tweeted out a photo that shows him sitting at a table four seats away from Papadopoulos during a national security team meeting.

That March 31, 2016, meeting comes up in court papers filed along with Papadopoulos plea deal. Papadopoulos admitted as part of the plea deal that he stated in sum and substance, that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin, according to the statement of offense.

Papadopoulos, who just weeks earlier had met with a professor with close ties to the Russian government, was seated two chairs away from now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the March 31 meeting. An administration official pointed HuffPost to an August story in The Daily Caller, which said Sessions quashed and shut down Papadopoulos when he brought up the idea of setting up a meeting between Trump and Putin.

If Sessions did try to shut down Papadopoulos outreach to the Russians, it apparently didnt take. Weeks later, on April 26, 2016, Papadopoulos met with the professor in London shortly after the professor had returned from Moscow. It was then that the professor told Papadopoulos that the Russians had obtained thousands of emails and dirt on then-candidate Clinton, according to the statement of offense. That happened before the Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee was made public.

A post shared by President Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Mar 31, 2016 at 7:09pm PDT

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