Former Trump Aide George Papadopoulos Gets 14-Day Prison Sentence

In court Friday, attorney Breen said Mifsud started "working George" the moment he realized Papadopoulos was working for the Trump campaign.

"He doesn't know he's being worked by a pro," Breen said.

Prosecutors say Papadopoulos had been on the Trump campaign for at least a month before he met with Mifsud, but that Papadopoulos repeatedly told investigators that he was not yet part of the campaign when the meetings took place.

This dishonesty undermined the ability of prosecutors to question or detain Mifsud about the emails before he left the United States in February 2017, the government has said.

Attorney Stanley has countered meanwhile that his client's dishonesty stemmed not from nefarious intent, but a desire to further his career.

"Caught off-guard by an impromptu interrogation, Mr. Papadopoulos misled investigators to save his professional aspirations and preserve a perhaps misguided loyalty to his master," his sentencing memo said.

In court Friday, Moss pushed back on the notion that Papadopoulos could use that to excuse his behavior.

"He had plenty of opportunity to come back and say he made a mistake," Moss said. "And he didn't do that."

Breen nonetheless tried to portray his client as a victim of the circumstances at the time. He noted that, one week prior to Papadopoulos' first interview with Mueller's investigators on Jan. 27, 2017, President Trump had set out to frame Russian election meddling as fake news.

That impacted his client's mindset, Breen said.

"The president of the United States of America hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could," Breen said.

Misguided loyalty to the new president and professional considerations led him to make the "stupid mistake" of lying to the FBI during his first interview, Breen later added.

The president, who consistently denies his campaign colluded with the Kremlin’s effort to disrupt the election and calls Mueller’s Russia probe a “witch hunt,” tweeted a swift response Friday to the sentence of his former foreign-policy adviser.

Trump wrote: “14 days for 28 MILLION - $2 MILLION a day, No Collusion. A great day for America!”

Both Moss and Breen acknowledged in court Friday that there didn’t seem to be any impropriety in how Mueller’s investigators handled the case. In fact, Breen complimented the special counsel’s office when he addressed the court, calling their interviews with his client “professional,” and saying the questions they had for him were long but fair.

Breen's sentencing memo said Papadopoulos saw an opportunity in building a relationship with Mifsud to facilitate one of the Trump campaign's primary policy goals: improving relations with Russia.

In court Friday, attorney Breen said the "dirt" on Clinton offered up by Mifsud was not at the forefront of his client's mind, but rather furthering the campaign's foreign-policy goal.

"He thinks he's furthering the interests of the fellow he wants to be president," Breen said.

According to his sentencing memo, Papadopoulos was witnessing his career skyrocket "to unimaginable heights."

During the March 31, 2016, national-security meeting at the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., Papadopoulos eagerly announced he could facilitate a foreign-policy meeting between Trump and Putin.

"While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Mr. Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr. [Attorney General Jeff] Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it," the memo states.

Ultimately the meeting never happened, but Breen said in court Friday that the attention Papadopoulos received because of the meeting "absolutely delighted" him.

Papadopoulos says investigators lured him into questioning about the FBI's Russia investigation, which was not yet public and still under the direction of former FBI Director James Comey, by telling him they wanted to question him about Sergei Millian.

Millian's name had surfaced as a source for the controversial dossier put together by former British spy Christopher Steele.

Papadopoulos claims he answered questions about Millian for roughly 20 minutes, but that the FBI quickly shifted gears and started inquiring about Russian influence on the election.

According to his sentencing memo, Papadopoulos told investigators he was unaware that anyone in the Trump campaign knew in advance that Clinton's emails would be released.

"Further, George told the agents he had no knowledge of meetings between Russian government officials and people working on the campaign," his sentencing memo states.

From his telling, Papadopoulos wanted to assist investigators but was also concerned about his professional future and desired to continue working for the campaign. So he misled investigators to distance himself from Mifsud.

"In his hesitation, George lied, minimized, and omitted material facts. Out of loyalty to the new president and his desire to be part of the administration, he hoisted himself upon his own petard," his sentencing memo says.

In his presentencing address to the court, Papadopoulos seemed to acknowledge that his lies had harmed a national-security investigation.

"I was not honest," Papadopoulos said. "And I might have hindered the investigation."

He said he decided to hide aspects of his relationship with Mifsud after the professor told him he had dirt on his boss's political opponent.

Papadopoulos says he does not recall having ever told the campaign what Mifsud told him about Clinton's stolen emails.

"Serving the United States with pride is all I ever wanted to do," Papadopoulos said.

In addition to two weeks in jail, Papadopoulos will undergo 12 months of supervised release and must do 200 hours of community service. He must also pay a fine of $9,500.

Papadopoulos was not taken into custody after the hearing, and was seen getting into a car after exiting the courthouse.

"We are very satisfied with the sentence. I think the judge really took everything into consideration,” Breen told reporters after the hearing.

Clarifying what his client knew about the stolen Clinton emails, Breen told reporters that Papadopoulos “has never seen any emails that would’ve been hacked by Russia,” and does not recall having told anyone on the campaign about them. 

If Papadopoulos did tell anyone about the emails, Breen added, he does not remember the identity of such persons.

Moss described having struggled with Papadopoulos' sentence but said he was not impressed that aspirations of a job in the Trump administration led Papadopoulos to lie during an investigation with national importance.

"Those are not noble reasons to tell a lie," Moss said.

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