美国国家公共电台 NPR Ex-Trump Aide Papadopoulos, 1st Charged In Russia Probe, Sentenced To 14 Days

Ex-Trump 1 Aide Papadopoulos, 1st Charged In Russia Probe, Sentenced To 14 Days

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Today brought a milestone 3 in the Russia investigation 4. A federal judge in Washington handed down a sentence for George Papadopoulos. He was the first person to plead guilty to charges brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. That was back in October of last year. And since then, Papadopoulos has been cooperating with the government.

NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson was in the courtroom today for this and joins us now. Hi, Carrie.

CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE 5: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: So what is Papadopoulos' punishment?

JOHNSON: It's 14 days in prison. That is more than what he wanted, which is probation 6, but far less than the six-month maximum sentence he faced under the guidelines. The judge, Randy Moss 7, said he believed Papadopoulos put his self-interest before the interest of the nation.

But he also said Papadopoulos seemed remorseful 8. He called the public shaming that Papadopoulos has experienced nearly unbearable 9, and he said he thought having to go to prison at all will make a strong impression on this defendant 10 for the rest of his life. Papadopoulos for his part seemed to be pretty relieved. He'll be able to surrender on his own. He left court today with his wife and his parents. Eventually, he said, he wants to move to Los Angeles.

SHAPIRO: What was the scene like in that courtroom on this momentous 11 day?

JOHNSON: Yeah, Papadopoulos was fidgeting before the hearing, playing with his fingers and his hands. His eyes looked puffy. His wife looked very nervous. He stood up in court and told the judge, I made a terrible mistake for which I have paid dearly. He said his entire life was turned upside down. He wants a second chance.

But he also wants to signal to other witnesses that this investigation has global implications and that the truth matters. Now, the government team led by a veteran public corruption 12 prosecutor 13 named Andrew Goldstein was pretty tough in court today, Ari. They wanted to see this man get some prison time.

They said he deliberately 14 and repeatedly lied to the FBI about the investigation into Russian interference in the election. And they said he set back the investigation by not coming clean for six months. They said his motives 15 were calculated to show loyalty 16 to the president and position himself for a big job in the Trump administration, which of course he never got.

SHAPIRO: Remind us where he fits into the larger Russia story.

JOHNSON: This guy was one of a number of young junior aides brought in to the campaign when Trump was under pressure to reveal his foreign policy team. And he came to public attention by bragging 17 about his ties to the campaign in London. He began to get offers there from Russian operatives. One of them told him he had dirt on Hillary Clinton or the Russians had dirt on Hillary Clinton.

His lawyer says George Papadopoulos was simply unsophisticated, naive 18 and foolish. He didn't realize he was getting worked by a pro 2, by a spy. But George Papadopoulos also said this idea of advancing relations with Russia was a true Trump campaign goal and that Donald Trump as a candidate and now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions both seemed receptive to the idea of meeting with Russians in March 2016 when Papadopoulos brought this up.

Of course, Ari, one night Papadopoulos got drunk in a pub with an Australian diplomat 19, started blabbing all about this. The Australian told his government, which told the U.S. and thus launched this major counterintelligence investigation.

SHAPIRO: So he's been cooperating with investigators 20 as part of his plea deal. Is there any sense of what information he might have given them?

JOHNSON: There is - there are some hints. His lawyer - George Papadopoulos' lawyer, Tom Breen, said he did share information about that big foreign policy meeting with candidate Trump and now-Attorney General Sessions. And the lawyer said this was an unusual case because some of the people he was dishing about in a meeting with the FBI had their photos on the wall of the FBI building. That's now-President Trump and now-Attorney General Sessions.

His lawyer said that basically Papadopoulos was just parroting what President Trump said - that this investigation was a witch hunt and fake news. His lawyer said the president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could. The judge of course found otherwise and sentenced Papadopoulos to some prison time today.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR national justice correspondent Carrie Johnson. Thanks, Carrie.

JOHNSON: My pleasure.