Simona Mangiante Papadopolous: I Understand Why I Was A ‘Red Flag’ To Mueller

Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos, wife of former President Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, said that special counsel Robert Mueller’s suspicions about her were understandable.

During an interview with ABC News on Sunday, just days after her husband was sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI about his contacts with a professor tied to Russia, Mangiante Papadopoulos acknowledged she was likely a “red flag” to investigators looking at Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

“I come from a political background myself,” she told ABC News. “I used to work as a diplomat at the European Parliament for a few years and this could be a red flag because many officials at European Union actually — it’s a cover-up for spy jobs. … Of course this connection was highly suspicious. I respect the, I always said I respect Mueller’s interest in my profile because clearly it’s quite alarming, the fact that I marry George Papadopoulos in the middle of this storm.”

Papadopoulos’s family also apparently was suspicious of Mangiante Papadopoulos leading up to their marriage in March.

“I think everyone was a little paranoid throughout this past year,” George Papadopoulos told ABC. “And yes, you know, I think they thought that she might have been some sort of Russian spy. Of course I never believed anything like that. She’s just, I don’t think every beautiful blonde person necessarily has to be a Russian agent. You know, there are many blonde Italians as well.”