Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos wants federal investigators to look into a $10,000 payment he claims to have received in the summer 2017 from a man he believes was a foreign spy.
The money, he said on Tuesday, might have come from special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in an effort to entrap him.
“I actually want Congress, Barr, Horowitz, and Huber to review the bills,” Papadopoulos said on Fox Business, referring to Attorney General William Barr, Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz, and U.S. Attorney John Huber — all of whom are conducting investigations into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation and possible misconduct by federal officials.
As Papadopoulos would tell it, a man gave him the money in a Israel hotel room for some sort of Mediterranean-Middle East political consulting venture they discussed. Beyond his work for the Ben Carson and Trump presidential campaigns, Papadopoulos was also an energy consultant. Papadopoulos said he felt uncomfortable and gave the money to his lawyer in Athens, Greece, but the man would not take the money back.
In July 2017, Papadopoulos flew to Dulles International Airport outside Washington where FBI agents placed him under arrest. He pleaded guilty October 2017 to making false statements to the FBI about his contacts with Russians and served 12 days in prison late last year. He also was fined $9,500 and ordered to do community service. Papadopoulos additionally agreed to cooperate with the Russia investigation conducted by Mueller, who recently wrapped up and found no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. The FBI launched its original counterintelligence investigation, called Crossfire Hurricane, in July 2016. It was prompted by Australian diplomat Alexander Downer informing the FBI that Papadopoulos told him Russia had damaging information on Hillary Clinton, Trump’s Democratic rival in the 2016 election. Papadopoulos has said Maltese academic Joseph Mifsud, who told him about the alleged dirt on Clinton, was also working for Western intelligence.
Papadopoulos said on Tuesday that the money is still with his lawyer in Greece. He said he believes the bills are “marked” and have a traceable link to the Obama Justice Department, FBI, and even Mueller himself.
“If the Mueller team is going around entrapping campaign associates and Trump associates, the way they did to me — I am sure it wasn’t just me they did it to — it’s going to open up a massive can of worms,” Papadopoulos said. “I think we need to get to the bottom of exactly not only how did this story start, but why were they entrapping us moving forward.”
Papadopoulos informed federal investigators about the payment. It is mentioned at the bottom of an August memo from Mueller that recommended Papadopoulos serve up to six months in jail for misleading the FBI.
“Based on the defendant’s offense level under the Guidelines, the applicable range for a fine is $500 to $9,500,” the memo reads. “The defendant provided information about $10,000 in cash he received from a foreign national whom he believed was likely an intelligence officer of a foreign country (other than Russia). The defendant has stated that he kept that money in a safe pending his sentencing in this case and Counsel for the defendant has consented to the imposition of this fine amount. Forfeiture is not applicable in this case.”
Papadopoulos identified the man he allegedly met and received the $10,000 from as Israeli American businessman Charles Tawil. The individual who introduced Papadopoulos to Tawil was an Israeli political strategist named David Ha’ivri. Ha’ivri told the Daily Caller that he was unaware of a $10,000 payment to Papadopoulos, but Tawil did secure a consulting contract with a petroleum and gas infrastructure company with a retainer of $10,000 a month after talks with Papadopoulos fell apart due to his “immaturity.”
Ha’ivri said he was unaware the FBI was investigating Papadopoulos when he introduced Tawil to him. “Had we known about them before we would have never reached out to a guy like George,” he said.
Tawil told the Times of Israel that Papadopoulos never asked him to take back the money and “was desperate to work with me.” He also denied being part of some entrapment plot. “First of all, I support Trump, so why would I entrap a pro-Trump guy?” he said. “I like the fact that Trump is the president. I wanted him to be president. I worked a lot in Africa and I see the damage that Clinton and Obama did to the world. Trump may be eccentric but he is at least straightforward.”
