A proposed meeting between Trump and Putin
Things Trump has said about Putin
Trump didn't dismiss idea when foreign policy adviser suggested setting up Putin meeting
Washington (CNN)Candidate
Donald Trump did not dismiss the idea of arranging a meeting with
Russia's president when it was suggested in a meeting with his campaign
foreign policy advisers last year, according to a person in the room.
The
idea was raised by George Papadopoulos as he introduced himself at a
March 2016 meeting of the Republican candidate's foreign policy
advisers, according to a court filing.
"He
didn't say yes and he didn't say no," the official said, declining to
be more specific about Trump's response to Papadopoulos.
But
the chairman of Trump's national security team, then Alabama senator
and now attorney general Jeff Sessions, shut down the idea of a Putin
meeting at the March 31, 2016, gathering, according to the source. His
reaction was confirmed with another source who had discussed Session's
role.
Trump's response to Papadopoulos' offer could be of interest to special counsel's office.
J.D.
Gordon, a former Pentagon spokesman and Trump campaign national
security adviser who attended the meeting, told CNN he was "surprised to
learn this week what George Papadopoulos was up to during the
campaign."
"He obviously went to great lengths to go around me and Sen. Sessions," he added.
CNN reached out to other people in attendance at the meeting who did not respond.
Papadopoulos
pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about interactions with foreign
officials close to the Russian government -- the campaign's clearest
connection so far to Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 election.
Papadopoulos told the FBI, according to court documents, that in a
national security meeting attended by Trump and campaign advisers, he
"in sum and substance" said that "he had connections that could help
arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin."
Asked about the description, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the President does not recall specifics of the meeting.
"Again,
it was a brief meeting that took place quite some time ago. It was the
one time that group ever met," Sanders said on Monday.
"What
I can say is that I think that Papadopoulos is an example of, actually,
somebody doing the wrong thing while the President's campaign did the
right thing," Sanders said on Tuesday.
The
White House did not respond to request for further comment. The Justice
Department had no comment. Papadopoulos' attorney did not respond.
A
separate former campaign official said the national security team was
assembled "to demonstrate that then-candidate Trump was becoming more
informed on foreign affairs issues."
"It clearly worked at the time," the former campaign official said.
However,
the former member of Trump's national security team described the idea
of a foreign policy advisory board for Trump as "fake news" because the
candidate rarely listened to his advisers.
This story has been updated to include Gordon's response.
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