A former foreign policy adviser for Donald Trump’s campaign who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russia, was “stupid” and “had no business” sitting in on the March 2016 foreign policy meeting, according to former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo.
That meeting is under fresh scrutiny after recently unsealed court documents show that’s where George Papadopoulos offered to connect Trump with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“He was invited in because at the time the campaign was really reeling from criticism that it had no foreign policy or other advisers,” Caputo said during an interview with MSNBC Friday. “Donald Trump prided himself on running a lean and mean campaign. That group was slap dash put together in a way another campaign wouldn’t do it. Papadopoulos had no business being there.”
Caputo — who earlier this week labeled Papadopoulos a “coffee boy” — questioned why Papadopoulos wasn’t awarded a position with the State Department or on the transition team if he was the “kind of guy that had the credentials that would lead him to be in charge of collusion with Russia.”
When asked why the young foreign policy adviser would suggest that the President should meet with Putin if he didn’t think it would curry favor with Trump, Caputo was quick to shoot Papadopoulos down again.
“I think the term of art is he’s stupid,” he said. “This kid was foolish. He proposed something that nobody had any interest in. If you think that Donald Trump sitting there silently and listening and nodding his head is some kind of ideas that he thought it was a good idea to meet with Putin, you’re exaggerating things.”
Caputo’s latest effort to discredit Papadopoulos falls in line with the response Trump and the White House has taken to news that Papadopoulos was encouraged by campaign supervisors to set up a meeting with Russian officials if feasible. Trump has called Papadopoulos a “liar” and a “low level volunteer,” even though he called him an “excellent guy” when naming him as a member of his foreign policy team in 2016.
Watch a clip of the interview below:
They really hate that he was in that picture, right among all those others who will eventually see their turn in Mueller’s crosshairs. There is a reason so many of them are playing down Papadopolous’s involvement/role - distancing them from him.
This stupid kid just showed up at the meetings and managed a seat between the Elf and the Orange Idiot
Are you fucking kidding me?
Hey Caputo! I have Mueller on line 2 for you… he wants to a little of your time under oath…
It’s equally true for all of them:
Stupid is as stupid does.
Stupid is what brought them together.
Amazing how someone who only hires “the best people” managed to surround himself with so many f’ing idiots.