For âlow level volunteer â Papadopoulos sought high profile as Trump adviser
George Papadopoulos
George Papadopoulos  pleaded guilty in early October to lying to federal officials about  his  contacts with Russian nationals.  He  is one of three former Trump campaign officials facing criminal charges. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
 George Papadopoulos  pleaded guilty in early October to lying to federal officials about  his  contacts with Russian nationals.  He  is one of three former Trump campaign officials facing criminal charges. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
President Trump on Tuesday belittled former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos  who pleaded guilty this week to lying to federal agents investigating Russiaâs interference in the 2016 election  tweeting that âfew people knew the young  low level volunteer named George  who has already proven to be a liar.â
But interviews and documents show that  Papadopoulos  was in regular contact with the Trump campaignâs most senior officials and held  himself  out as a Trump surrogate as  he  traveled the world to meet with foreign officials and reporters.
 Papadopoulos  sat at the elbow of one of Trumpâs top campaign advisers  then-Sen. Jeff Sessions  during a dinner for campaign advisers weeks before the Republican National Convention  according to an individual who attended the meeting.
 He  met in London in September 2016 with a mid-level representative of the British Foreign Office  where  he  said  he  had contacts at the senior level of the Russian government.
And  he  conferred at one point with the foreign minister of Greece at a meeting in New York.
While some top campaign aides appeared to rebuff  Papadopoulos âs persistent offers to broker a meeting with Russian President VladiÂ­mir Putin  there is no sign they told  him  directly to cease  his  activities or sought to end  his  affiliation with the campaign.
Emails included in court documents released Monday show that  Papadopoulos  repeatedly told Trump campaign officials about  his  contacts with people  he  believed were representing the Russian government.
The court documents do not answer a key question: whether  Papadopoulos  also told  his  superiors that  he  had met a London-based professor who claimed to know that the Russians had âdirtâ on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton  including thousands of her emails.
An FBI agent told the court in July that  Papadopoulos  lied in an interview with federal agents  saying he did not tell anyone on the campaign about the âdirtâ because he thought the professor was a ânothing.â
 [Whoâs who in the George Papadopoulos court documents]
 At 29   Papadopoulos  had scant experience that qualified  him  to advise a presidential candidate.  He  had entered the Trump campaign after a six-week stint working for the campaign of  Trumpâs  rival for the Republican nomination  neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
 Carsonâs  campaign manager  Barry Bennett  recalled that  Papadopoulos  was hired after sending him an unsolicited message via LinkedIn seeking a job.
Bennett said his only vetting was to ask a friend at the Washington-based Hudson Institute  where Papadopoulosâs rÃ©sumÃ© indicated he had worked as a researcher  whether  Papadopoulos  was âan okay guy.â
For six weeks of work  Bennett said   Papadopoulos  was paid $8 500  before he was let go from the campaign at the end of January 2016 as it shed staff.
[TGT] pleaded guilty in early October to lying to federal officials about   [TGT]   contacts with Russian nationals.   [TGT]   is one of three former Trump campaign officials facing criminal charges. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
  [TGT] pleaded guilty in early October to lying to federal officials about   [TGT]   contacts with Russian nationals.   [TGT]   is one of three former Trump campaign officials facing criminal charges. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
President Trump on Tuesday belittled former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos  who pleaded guilty this week to lying to federal agents investigating Russiaâs interference in the 2016 election  tweeting that âfew people knew the young  low level volunteer named George  who has already proven to be a liar.â
But interviews and documents show that   [TGT] was in regular contact with the Trump campaignâs most senior officials and held   [TGT]   out as a Trump surrogate as   [TGT]   traveled the world to meet with foreign officials and reporters.
  [TGT]   sat at the elbow of one of Trumpâs top campaign advisers  then-Sen. Jeff Sessions  during a dinner for campaign advisers weeks before the Republican National Convention  according to an individual who attended the meeting.
  [TGT]   met in London in September 2016 with a mid-level representative of the British Foreign Office  where   [TGT]   said   [TGT]   had contacts at the senior level of the Russian government.
And  he  conferred at one point with the foreign minister of Greece at a meeting in New York.
While some top campaign aides appeared to rebuff   [TGT]  persistent offers to broker a meeting with Russian President VladiÂ­mir Putin  there is no sign they told   [TGT]   directly to cease   [TGT]   activities or sought to end   [TGT]   affiliation with the campaign.
Emails included in court documents released Monday show that   [TGT] repeatedly told Trump campaign officials about   [TGT]   contacts with people   [TGT]   believed were representing the Russian government.
The court documents do not answer a key question: whether   [TGT] also told   [TGT]   superiors that   [TGT]   had met a London-based professor who claimed to know that the Russians had âdirtâ on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton  including thousands of her emails.
An FBI agent told the court in July that   [TGT] lied in an interview with federal agents  saying  [TGT]  did not tell anyone on the campaign about the âdirtâ because  [TGT]  thought the professor was a ânothing.â
 [Whoâs who in the George Papadopoulos court documents]
 At 29    [TGT] had scant experience that qualified   [TGT]   to advise a presidential candidate.   [TGT]   had entered the Trump campaign after a six-week stint working for the campaign of  Trumpâs  rival for the Republican nomination  neurosurgeon Ben Carson.
 Carsonâs  campaign manager  Barry Bennett  recalled that   [TGT] was hired after sending him an unsolicited message via LinkedIn seeking a job.
Bennett said his only vetting was to ask a friend at the Washington-based Hudson Institute  where Papadopoulosâs rÃ©sumÃ© indicated he had worked as a researcher  whether   [TGT] was âan okay guy.â
For six weeks of work  Bennett said    [TGT] was paid $8 500  before he was let go from the campaign at the end of January 2016 as it shed staff.