The media is overlooking a small, but important, detail in a newly-relevant interview from last year when President Trump praised George Papadopoulos to the Washington Post: He was reading from a list handed to him by an aide.
Many in the media are now citing the interview as evidence Papadopoulos, a part of Trump’s national security advisory team who was indicted Monday for lying to the FBI, played a more significant role in the campaign than the White House and its allies are admitting.
“Trump, in telling WaPo about his FP team: ‘George Papadopoulos, he’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,'” Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler said Monday on Twitter, linking to the interview transcript.
“Trump used important editorial board meeting to announce foreign policy team,” remarked the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, also Monday on Twitter. “Called Papadopoulos an ‘excellent guy.'”
CNN’s Manu Raju shared the link as well and said, “Trump in March 2016 called Papadoplous an ‘excellent guy’ and member of his foreign policy team.”
The transcript of the interview shows Post Publisher Fred Ryan Jr. saying to Trump, “We’ve heard you’re going to be announcing your foreign policy team shortly. … Any you can share with us?”
Trump responds in part, “Well, I hadn’t thought of doing it, but if you want I can give you some of the names … Walid Phares, who you probably know, Ph.D., adviser to the House of Representatives caucus, and counter-terrorism expert; Carter Page, Ph.D; George Papadopoulos, he’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy; the Honorable Joe Schmitz, [former] inspector general at the Department of Defense; [retired] Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg; and I have quite a few more.”
The first set of ellipses, however, replaces a portion where Trump asks an aide to hand him a list of the names, perhaps suggesting Trump wasn’t familiar with any or all of the names on it.
“If you want, I could give you some of the names,” Trump says in the audio recording of the interview. “I wouldn’t mind. [unintelligible] Do you have that list so I can be a little more accurate?”
True. Also: Reading from list. In ellipses, asks aide for list of the team and then begins reading from it. https://t.co/bc81lxkZCa
— Byron York (@ByronYork) October 31, 2017
To laughter in the room, Trump asks, “Okay, are you ready?” and then goes on to name the team. “Walid Phares, who you probably know, PhD, adviser to the House of Representatives caucus, and counter-terrorism expert; Carter Page, PhD; George Papadopoulos, he’s an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy,” he says.
In an email, Fred Hiatt, editor of the Post’s editorial page, confirmed the version of events to the Washington Examiner but said he did not recall who handed Trump the list of names.
It was made public Monday that Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to charges he lied to the FBI about attempts to facilitate meetings between Russian officials and the Trump campaign in 2016.
The White House has distanced itself from Papadopoulos, 30.
Trump on Tuesday said on Twitter that, “Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar.”
At Monday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders described Papadopoulos as “the member of a volunteer council that met one time over the course of a year.”
