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George Papadopoulos was no mere “coffee boy” to the Trump campaign, the disgraced foreign-policy adviser’s fiancée says.
Papadopoulous — who pleaded guilty to lying to the feds about his contacts with Russian officials — played an important role in the campaign, wife-to-be Simona Mangiante told ABC News in an interview that aired Friday, blasting the president’s claims that her beau was just a “low-level volunteer.”
Papadopoulos was “constantly in touch with high-level officials in the campaign,” Mangiante said in the interview — adding that he “set up meetings with leaders all over the world” for senior campaign officials.
The 28-year-old pleaded guilty in October to making “false statements” during an interview with FBI agents about a Russia-connected, London-based professor who offered “dirt” on Hillary Clinton.
Following the guilty plea, Trump wrote in a tweet about Papadopoulos: “Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar.”
Another Trump campaign advisor described Papadopoulos as a “coffee boy.”
Mangiante quipped to ABC News that she’d love for George to learn how to make coffee — “because it’s absolutely out of his skills.”
“George is a remarkable young man with incredible experience in the field of energy and oil policies. This experience led him to get into the campaign and to advise the president at only 28 years old,” she said.
Mangiante also claimed that Papadopoulos had direct communication with former Trump advisers Steven Bannon and Michael Flynn, noting that she had personally seen correspondence between the parties.
The fiancée said she has proof that Papadopoulos was in the know — but her attorneys instructed her not to provide emails to the news media.
“He never took any initiative, as far as I know, [that was] unauthorized. All the initiatives had [the] blessing of the campaign,” she told ABC News.
Mangiante identified the London professor as Professor Joseph Mifsud, and said she believes he approached Papadopoulos “precisely because he was working for Trump.”
Mangiante, an Italian citizen, says she was also questioned by the FBI about the professor and her work as a political aide for the European Parliament in Brussels.
She told the network she decided to speak out because of how her fiancée’s role in the campaign was downgraded by the Trump administration.
“He was very brave and decent to take responsibility” for lying to the FBI, she said. “George is very loyal to his country.”
“He is already on the right side of history. I think he will make a big difference,” Mangiante said, adding that she believes Papadopoulos will be remembered as “the first domino in the Russia investigation.”
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