Former Trump aide George Papadopoulos must report to prison on Monday as scheduled.
In a ruling Sunday, a federal judge rejected Papadopoulos’s two requests for an “eleventh-hour stay.”
“[T]he court agrees with the special counsel that Papadopoulos has failed to carry his burden of demonstrating that a delay in the execution of his sentence is warranted and will, accordingly, deny both motions,” U.S. District Court Judge Randy Moss said.
Papadopoulos’ sentence from the same judge came in September after he pleaded guilty in October 2017 to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russians. Papadopoulos was also sentenced to a year of supervised release and 200 hours of community service, and will pay a $9,500 fine.
Last week, Papadopoulos’s legal team requested a two-week delay pending the outcome of a separate case challenging the constitutionality of special counsel Robert Mueller’s appointment. They said in a filing earlier this month that outcome of the case brought against Mueller by Andrew Miller, an associate of longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone, could “directly impact the validity of Mr. Papadopoulos’ prosecution of conviction.”
But Moss rejected Papadopoulos’ argument while also noting that fellow judges of his have dismissed the idea that Mueller’s appointment was unconstitutional.
Papadopoulos “has failed to demonstrate that the D.C. Circuit is likely to conclude that the appointment of the special counsel was unlawful — and, indeed, he has failed even to show that the appeal raises a ‘close question’ that ‘very well could be decided’ against the special counsel,” Moss wrote in his ruling.
[George Papadopoulos: If Jim Comey testifies in public, I’ll testify without immunity]
