Senate Intellige Report

Narrative

[ REDACTED]

COMMITTEE SENSITIVE- RUSSIA INVESTIGATION ONLY.

George Papadopoulos. Introduction and Findings.

In early March 2016, following a short stint working for the Ben Carson campaign, George Papadopoulos asked Trump Campaign advisor Sam Clovis about joining the Trump foreign policy team. On March 21, 2016, Trump publicly announced his foreign policy team, which included Papadopoulos and four others. Throughout the campaign and following the election, Papadopoulos proffered himself as a conduit between the Trump team and foreign governments, including Russia, Egypt, and Greece.

During his initial conversations with Clovis in early March, Papadopoulos learned that" a principal foreign policy focus of the Campaign was an improved U.S. relationship with Russia.'' Papadopoulos, on his own initiative, met and communicated repeatedly with individuals throughout 2016 to advance the Campaign 's relationship with Russia, including London-based Professor Joseph Mifsud and Mifsud associates Olga Polonskaya and Ivan Timofeev. Papadopoulos believed Mifsud, Polonskaya, and Timofeev were connected to the Russian government, and worked with them on ways for the Campaign to engage with the Russian government.[ REDACTED]

The Committee found that the Trump Campaign 's rush to name and assemble the foreign policy team-without thorough vetting-resulted in their recruitment of inexperienced advisors, over whom they exerted little control. Ultimately, the foreign policy team exposed the Trump Campaign to significant counterintelligence vulnerabilities.

Papadopoulos used multiple avenues to pursue a face-to-face meeting between Trump and President Putin. Papadopoulos believed that he was operating with the approval-or at least not the explicit disapproval-of senior Campaign leadership, who he kept apprised of his efforts. Papadopoulos never successfully scheduled a meeting between Putin and Trump.

Most Campaign staff ignored Papadopoulos 's engagements with foreign governments, although some encouraged his efforts. The Committee did not find any evidence that the Campaign ever asked Papadopoulos to cease these engagements. However, on several occasions, the Campaign as ask him to stop his interactions with the foreign press on its behalf, and in October 2016, several senior Campaign staffers discussed ending Papadopoulos 's role with the Campaign, but never did so. Papadopoulos continued to work with the Campaign through the presidential Transition, during which time he assisted several foreign governments-though not Moscow-in establishing contact with. Campaign officials

[ REDACTED] Papadopoulos' s contacts with Mifsud and Sergei Millian, the President of the Russia-American Chamber of Commerce( RACC), are highly suspicious.[ REDACTED] Millian is a Belarusian-born American citizen, and as of 2018 was the president of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and a real estate broker in New York City. Furthermore, Millian has had a working relationship with Trump since 2007.[ REDACTED] Both Mifsud and Millian exhibited behavior consistent with intelligence tradecraft, and both have significant ties to Russian government and business circles. Papadopoulos did not seem to consider himself a target for foreign intelligence services, despite being associated with a presidential campaign and his ongoing interactions with foreign government officials.

Mifsud 's use of Polonskaya as a proxy to further induce contact with Papadopoulos is consistent with intelligence tradecraft.

Millian 's connections to the virtually non-existent RACC, combined with the odd nature of his request that Papadopoulos pursue a job with the Trump administration, are also consistent with intelligence tradecraft

The Committee found Mifsud was aware of an aspect of Russia 's active measures campaign in the 2016 election and that Mifsud told Papadopoulos what he knew. The timing of Mifsud 's visit to Moscow and his subsequent conversation with Papadopoulos are consistent with the timeline of the GRU 's cyber penetration of the DNC and DCCC, several weeks before any information about that activity was public. Furthermore, the information Mifsud conveyed to Papadopoulos was consistent with the GRU 's information disclosure operations intended to damage the candidacy of Hillary Clinton[ REDACTED][ REDACTED]

Papadopoulos held a purely advisory role on the Campaign-he was never formal Campaign staff nor was he part of Trump 's inner circle-and most Campaign staff and other advisors he interacted with were dismissive of his efforts. Some senior members of the Campaign viewed Papadopoulos as a liability, particularly in his interactions with foreign governments and press outlets.

The Committee notes that Papadopoulos engaged with more than just the Russian government. He also communicated with government officials from Egypt, Israel, occurred through non-government interlocutors

Papadopoulos never sought to conceal his efforts to make contact with Russian officials; on the contrary, he sought opportunities to demonstrate his networking to high-ranking Campaign officials, like Corey Lewandowski and Steve Bannon. Papadopoulos wanted to maintain his own identity as a conduit; he never put Mifsud or Timofeev directly in contact with the Campaign, or vice-versa.

Although the Committee 's insights are substantially limited by incomplete document production and witness testimony, the Committee assesses that Papadopoulos was not a witting cooptee of the Russian intelligence services, but nonetheless presented as a prime intelligence target and potential vector for malign Russian influence.

2. Limitations on the Committee 's Investigation

The FBI first interviewed Papadopoulos on January 27, 2017, in connection with its counterintelligence investigation. On July 27, 2017, FBI agents arrested him for making false statements during this January 2017 interview. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to making these false statements on October 5, 2017. The FBI made some relevant records available to the committee, including: notes from its interviews with Papadopoulos, as well as a detailed timeline of Papadopoulos 's activities from March 2016 through August 2017

The Committee tried several times to interview Papadopoulos. In discussing a potential appearance before the Committee, Papadopoulos insisted certain topics be outside the scope of the interview, a condition which the Committee rejected. Ultimately, the Committee received two separate document productions from Papadopoulos. The first tranche of documents, produced on June 19, 2017, was incomplete. That production also appeared to be curated and annotated by Papadopoulos, and painted a misleading representation of the facts related to his activities. Papadopoulos included with the documents a written statement that included numerous false or misleading statements similar to those he originally made to the timeline of Papadopoulos 's activities from March 2016 through August 2017. but still omitted non-email communications, including text messages and social media messages, FBI. The second tranche of documents, produced on June 6, 2019, was more comprehensive, public transcripts of Papadopoulos 's testimony to other congressional committees.

The Committee tried several times to contact and interview Mifsud, to no avail. These efforts included a letter sent to Mifsud on March 22, 2018, inviting him to appear for an interview with the Committee. While the letter resulted in several exchanges with Mifsud 's alleged legal counsel, those attempts ultimately ended in November 2018, when his attorneys claimed to have lost contact with their client.

3. Joseph Mifsud and Other Central Figures

Mifsud played a central role in Papadopoulos 's attempts to engage the Russian government on behalf of the Trump Campaign. The Committee 's awareness of Mifsud 's activities is limited to document production and testimony from other witnesses, information from the Executive Branch, and open source research, in the absence of Mifsud 's documents and testimony.[ REDACTED]

Mifsud introduced Papadopoulos to Olga Polonskaya and Ivan Timofeev. Polonskaya is a Russian citizen who Mifsud used as a proxy for his activities communicated with Papadopoulos up until, and after, the 2016 election mistakenly thought Polonskaya was Putin 's niece. Discussion Club with whom Papadopoulos communicated through at least July 2016. Papadopoulos engaged both Polonskaya and Timofeev, along with Mifsud, as part of his outreach to Russia.[ REDACTED]

[ REDACTED] According to FBI records and documents produced to the Committee, Papadopoulos and Polonskaya remained in contact through the election. On a single day in October 2016, Papadopoulos and Polonskaya exchanged nearly seventy messages. During this conversation, Polonskaya demonstrated an awareness of Papadopoulos 's intent to run for public office.

Simona Mangiante, an Italian attorney who worked for the European Parliament until 2016, first interacted with Papadopoulos in approximately September 2016, when he sent her a Linkedln message, noting that he had previously worked for the organization that Mangiante had just joined, the London Center of International Law Practice( LCILP). Mangiante and Papadopoulos initially communicated via Skype or WhatsApp, until Papadopoulos met Mangiante in person at the airport in New York in the spring of 2017. Mangiante married Papadopoulos on March 2, 2018. Mangiante has an independent, separate connection to Mifsud.

According to Mangiante, she was introduced to Mifsud at some point between 2009 and 2016 through Gianni Pittella, the former head of a political group within the European Union. Mangiante described Pittella as" someone I am very close to,'' and further stated that Pittella was" someone who is very close to Mifsud.'' Mangiante characterized Mifsud as being affiliated with a number of universities in Europe, including the Link Campus University in Rome, Italy; the University of East Anglia; and the University of Stirling in the United Kingdom; as well as serving as the Director of the London Academy of Diplomacy. During Mangiante 's three month employment at the LCILP, which ended in late October 2016, Mifsud also became a director at the LCILP.

4. Papadopoulos Engages with Foreign Governments, Inflating Campaign Role

The Committee used limited document production and interviews to valuate interactions Papadopoulos had throughout 2016 with foreign officials, Mifsud, and members of the Trump Campaign, and the corresponding counterintelligence threats those activities represented

i Papadopoulos Seeks a Role on a Campaign

Papadopoulos first reached out to the Trump Campaign in the summer of 2015, and was referred to Michael Glassner, the National Political Director for the Trump Campaign, by Corey Lewandowski, the Trump Campaign manager at the time that he was seeking" an advisory role to Mr. Trump on matters of energy security and U.S. policy in the Eastern Mediterranean.'' In September 2015, Glassner told Papadopoulos that the Trump Campaign was not hiring policy advisors.

From late 2015 until February 2016, Papadopoulos held a paid position with the Ben Carson campaign. After leaving, Papadopoulos reached out to a contact at the LCILP to ask if LCILP was hiring, noting that he had finished his role with the Carson campaign. By early February 2016, he agreed to join LCILP and began working in London.

Around the same time, Papadopoulos sent messages to Lewandowski and Glassner, again expressing interest in joining the Trump Campaign. On March 2, 2016, Papadopoulos sent Glassner another email message, reiterating his interest. The same day, a representative from the Trump Campaign responded to Papadopoulos with the subject line," follow up from Michael Glassner,'' to confirm that Papadopoulos would like to be introduced to Sam Clovis, who was the National Co-Chair and Chief Policy Adviser for the Trump Campaign and was at that time charged with forming a foreign policy team for the Trump Campaign. Papadopoulos said yes.

Clovis told the Committee that the goal for creation of the foreign policy team was to alleviate pressure the Trump Campaign was receiving regarding the candidate 's foreign policy and national security experience. In Clovis 's words:

[ W] e were desperate to · try to get the press off our backs... these were people who had approached the campaign at one time or another and had enough rank or enough street cred or I should say at least had credentials that looked like we could possibly put them together on this national advisory team.... My job was to put that list together, put it together, get a press release that let Hope, Hope Hicks, put a press release out on it, those kinds of things. Essentially, that was it. Once we had done that, the press backed off and I moved on to other things, and I never worried about cultivating that group ever again.

Hicks also said that in March 2016, then-candidate Trump was" repeatedly asked about who[ was] advising him on foreign policy. So we were as a campaign feeling pressure to put something together.''

Clovis and Papadopoulos spoke on March 6, 2016, about Papadopoulos joining the foreign policy team, and they may have discussed Russia. According to an August 2017 interview with the FBI:

Papadopoulos recalled having a telephone interview with Sam Clovis... on or about March 6, 2016, during which the topic of Russia came up. Clovis noted the importance of Russia to the foreign policy team. Papadopoulos remembered telling Clovis he did not have any Russian contacts during that call.

This is in contrast to what Clovis stated in his interview with the Committee, during which he stated," I think my advice to George[ Papadopoulos] has always been: No to Russia.''

On March 6, 2016, Clovis wrote an email update to senior Campaign members, including Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Corey Lewandowski, Michael Glassner, and Stephen Miller, explaining that he had" made contact with everyone in the matrix... I have already had lengthy discussions with Walid[ Ph] ares and George Papadopoulos. Both are on board.'' According to a" Policy Team Matrix'' document attached to the email, Papadopoulos was to support foreign policy issues and was the sole individual assigned to support energy issues.

Clovis sent another email, entitled" National Security Advisory Committee,'' to Ivanka Trump, Kushner, and Glassner on March 16, 2016:" As you asked for today, find attached the list of those from whom I have commitments to the team.'' Papadopoulos is listed in the attachment as" Oil and Energy Consultant; Hudson Institute; Expert on Mediterranean, Caspian, and Middle Eastern energy and Israel; degrees from University College London, DePaul University and Universite Catholique de Louvain

On March 21, 2016, Trump announced some of the foreign policy team during a meeting with the editorial board of the The Washington Post. During this meeting, Trump characterized Papadopoulos as," an energy and oil consultant, excellent guy.''

ii. Papadopoulos Meets Joseph Mifsud and Olga Polonskaya

On March 14, 2016, around the same time that he joined the Trump Campaign, Papadopoulos first met London-based professor Joseph Mifsud( also known as Joseph di Gabriele) while traveling in Rome, Italy. According to statements to the FBI, Papadopoulos said that he had traveled to Rome from approximately March 12 to March 17, 2016, with several other members of LCILP, in order to meet with individuals at the Link Campus University. The LCILP had arranged the trip and invited Papadopoulos, who accepted because he" just wanted to go to Rome.'' An individual named Nagi Idris, another director at LCILP, facilitated the introduction between Papadopoulos and Mifsud while they were in Rome. Although Mifsud worked for LCILP, Papadopoulos had not previously met him

Mifsud 's interest in Papadopoulos appeared entirely reliant on Papadopoulos 's association with the Trump Campaign. According to the statement of offense for Papadopoulos 's guilty plea:

Initially,[ Mifsud] seemed uninterested in defendant Papadopoulos. However, after defendant Papadopoulos informed[ Mifsud] about his joining the[ Trump] Campaign, the Professor appeared to take great interest in defendant Papadopoulos. Defendant Papadopoulos was interested in[ Mifsud] because, among other reasons,[ Mifsud] claimed to have substantial connections with Russian government officials, which defendant Papadopoulos thought could increase his importance as a policy advisor to the Campaign

Papadopoulos similarly told the FBI:

Papadopoulos '[ s] first impression was that Mifsud was arrogant. His negative attitude towards Papadopoulos continued until Mifsud found out Papadopoulos was part of the Trump campaign. Mifsud then began to turn on the charm with Papadopoulos' and tried to impress him. Mifsud told Papadopoulos he was a former diplomat with access to European leaders. Mifsud offered to help introduce Papadopoulos to the right people through his contacts

FBI technical analysis of Papadopoulos 's cell phone indicates that Mifsud sent Papadopoulos a text message on March 22, 2016, writing:" My number: joseph'.''

Papadopoulos told the House Judiciary Committee that Mifsud subsequently sent him an email stating that" it 's very important for us to meet in London. I have to introduce you to somebody very important.'' According to Papadopoulos 's statement of offense, Mifsud introduced Polonskaya to Papadopoulos as a relative of Vladimir Putin and as someone who had connections to senior Russian government officials. Papadopoulos testified to the House of Representatives:''[ M] y understanding was I was talking to a very senior level diplomat 's family member from Russia.'' He also testified that Idris reiterated Mifsud 's claim, stating''[ t] his is Putin 's niece or the Russian President 's niece.'' On March 24, 2016, Papadopoulos met with Mifsud and Olga Polonskaya, a Russian-national, at the Holbom Hotel.

Papadopoulos recalled that they discussed U.S.-Russia trade issues during the meeting, and noted that Polonskaya was escorted by an unknown male who did not join them. Papadopoulos 's wife, Mangiante, told the Committee that Papadopoulos thought Polonskaya was President Putin 's niece because of the way Mifsud introduced her to Papadopoulos

Papadopoulos later explained that Polonskaya, who could barely speak English during their in-person meeting, then began communicating with him via electronic means in more fluent English. Papadopoulos characterized a transition in their relationship, shifting from" seemingly obscure girl... to now the interlocutor with Mifsud to the Russian Government for me.''

[ REDACTED] On the same day, March 24, 2016, almost certainly after his meeting with Mifsud and Polonskaya, Papadopoulos performed internet searches for the following terms:

•" russian president''

•" russian president niece''

•" russian president niece olga''

•" russian president brother and sister''

•" joseph mifsud''

•" next Vietnam prime minister''

•" russian ambassador uk''

•" putin 's niece''

•" putin 's niece, olga''

•" me ~ dvedev 's niece, olga''

•" olga putin''

•" vladimir putin 's brother and sister''

•" Olga Medvedev''

This is the first example of a pattern the Committee observed in Papadopoulos 's behavior, where after a meeting he spent time conducting internet research on individuals he met, or, presumably, the topics discussed at the meeting. While several of Papadopoulos 's searches are focused on finding additional information on Polonskaya, Papadopoulos later noted in documents produced to the Committee that''[ a] quick google search will demonstrate that Putin has no siblings.''

On the same day, March 24, 2016, following his meeting with Mifsud and Polonskaya, Papadopoulos sent an email to members of the Trump foreign policy team with the subject" Meeting with Russian leadership-- including Putin,'' stating:

I just finished a very productive lunch with a good friend of mine, Joseph Mifsud, the director of the London Academy of Diplomacy-- who introduced me to both Putin 's niece and the Russian Ambassador in London-- who also acts as the Deputy Foreign Minister.

The topic of the lunch was to arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss US-Russia ties under President Trump. They are keen to host us in a" neutral'' city, or directly in Moscow. They said the leadership, including Putin, is ready to meet with us and Mr. Trump should there be interest. Waiting for everyone 's thoughts on moving forward with this very important · issue.

Furthermore, Mifsud is good friends with the soon to be next prime minister of Vietnam. He asked for me to join him on a trip there to meet with the next leader-- perhaps this is of interest to the rest of the campaign team as well?

Papadopoulos testified to the House Judiciary Committee that he lied to the Trump Campaign about being introduced to the Russian Ambassador in London, clarifying that he" never met the Russian ambassador, just to make that completely clear.

Minutes after Papadopoulos 's email to other Campaign advisers and staff, Clovis replied to the entire group, stating:

George,

This is most informative. Let me work it through the campaign. No commitments until we see how this play out. My thought is that we should not go forward with any meetings with the Russians until we have had occasion to sit with our NATO allies, especially France, Germany, and Great Britain. We need to reassure our allies that we are not going to advance anything with Russia until we have everyone on the same page.

More thoughts later today. Great work. Sam

[ REDACTED] FBI records indicate that on March 26, 2016, Papadopoulos performed internet searched for" Andrei Klimov'' and" Ivan Timofeev.'' This search occurred more than three weeks prior to Papadopoulos 's April 18, 2016, introduction to Timofeev through Mifsud, suggesting that Mifsud may have raised Klimov or Timofeev, or both, during his engagement with Papadopoulos.[ REDACTED]

iii. The Foreign Policy Team Meets

Clovis sent an email to the newly-established Trump Campaign 's foreign policy advisory team on March 28, 2016, stating:" I just got off the phone with Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama. He passed along that a meeting is being scheduled for 10 am eastern on Thursday, the 31st. Location to follow. Please let me know if you are going to be able to attend.'' Papadopoulos wrote back to the group thirty minutes later," Sam, I will be there too. Flying in on the 30th.''

Papadopoulos stated that at the March 31, 2016, national security meeting of then- candidate Trump 's foreign policy advisors held at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., he proposed the idea of arranging a meeting between Putin and Trump

Papadopoulos recalled telling the group in attendance that" Putin wants to meet'' and that the response to his suggestion from Trump was something to the effect of" I like the idea'' who subsequently asked Sessions for his opinion of the proposal. Papadopoulos believed that Trump and Sessions were somewhere between tacitly supportive of his idea, and very supportive of his idea, and he left the meeting with the impression that" these guys wanted this.'' Papadopoulos also told the FBI that he did not recall anyone at the meeting objecting to the proposal and that he rather felt he had received a" thumbs up.''

A picture of the meeting published on Trump 's Instagram account showed that Sessions and members of the foreign policy advisory team, including J.D. Gordon, Papadopoulos, and Joseph Schmitz attended the meeting

Clovis told the Committee that his first in-person encounter with Papadopoulos was at the March 31, 2016, meeting:

That 's where I really got the sense, at that meeting, that he was there for himself and not for the campaign, and I felt like ii was a mistake that we had included him... I just though the was very self-serving, very much on the make. I just never- I never trusted him after that.... Everything he did, he did on his' own, and we always had to go back and correct him afterwards. It got to the point, really, it got bad quickly, so we essentially cut him loose quickly in my view. I never trusted him with anything

Gordon told the Committee that he did not recall Papadopoulos proposing any outreach to the Russian government or Russian individuals, but did confirm that Papadopoulos

Papadopoulos referenced his proposal again with two of the other foreign policy advisors. On April 5, 2016, Phares sent an email message to Papadopoulos; in which he wrote" Let 's think about how to engage your Arab and Mideast contacts either in London or in DC.'' Papadopoulos replied from Tel Aviv, Israel," And of course the Russians, as I mentioned during our meeting.'' On April 10, 2016, Papadopoulos also sent an email message to Carter Page, another foreign policy advisor to the Trump Campaign, in which he asked if Page was available for a phone call" to discuss the outreach to Russia and the Caucasus,'' noting that they" both have experience dealing in that part of the world, so also wanted to look into any synergies.'' Page responded with an attempt to schedule a Skype conversation.

Papadopoulos recalled having a Skype call with Page, and in particular recalled Page telling him to" stop showing off.'' Although Papadopoulos did not remember exactly why Page had told him that, he surmised that" it was likely a result of Papadopoulos ' efforts to coordinate with the Russians in late March 2016.'' When Page testified to the Committee, he recalled speaking with Papadopoulos" once on the phone.''

iv. Papadopoulos ' Contact with Polonskaya and Mifsud Accelerates

As an apparent follow-up to the March meeting with Mifsud, Papadopoulos e-mailed Polonskaya on April 10, 2016, stating:

This is George Papadopoulos, Donald Trump 's advisor. We met with Joseph in London. The reason for my message is because he sent an email that you tried contacting me. I never received your sms. I was in Israel for business` and now I am back in London. Are you still in London? If you are it would be a pleasure to meet again. If not, we should have a call and discuss some things.

Polonskaya responded the next day, April 11, 2016, copying Mifsud on the email and stating" I am now back in St. Petersburg. I thank you for our meeting. I would be very pleased to support your initiatives between our two countries and of course I would be very pleased to meet you again.''

Papadopoulos responded back to Polonskaya on the same day, April 11, 2016, stating," I think a good step would be for me to meet with the Russian Ambassador in London sometime this month.... I would like to discuss with him, or anyone else you , about a potential foreign policy trip to Russia.'' Papadopoulos included a link in the email to a Jerusalem Post opinion article that he characterized as" beneficial to send around.'' The opinion article summarized Papadopoulos 's remarks at an April 2016 luncheon with research associates at an Israeli think tank which included:

•( U)" Unlike President Barack Obama, who weakly attempted to` reset' relations with Russia and then spent the latter part of his tenure isolating and sanctioning Russia, Donald Trump would` overtly seek' serious engagement with Russia on a range of common concerns.''

•( U)" Trump... sees Russian President Vladimir Putin as a responsible actor and potential partner.''

•( U)" The US and Russia must work to counter Chinese expansionism in Asia and the Middle East.... Therefore, a policy of isolating Russia is` not sustainable.''

In response to Papadopoulos 's email, Mifsud wrote back to Papadopoulos on the same day, April 11, 2016, that''[ t] his is already been agreed. I am flying to Moscow on the 18th for a Valdai meeting, plus other meetings at the Duma. We will talk tomorrow.'' The Committee does not know what, specifically, Mifsud meant by''[ t] his is already been agreed.'' PapadopouloswrotebacktoMifsudandPolonskayaeightminuteslater," Excellent. See you tomorrow.''

On April 12, 2016, Papadopoulos appears to have had breakfast with Mifsud, based on his last April 11, 2016, email and information made available from the FBI 's timeline.

• Papadopoulos 's schedule had a calendar entry for April 12, 2016, at 9:30 a.m. for one hour, for" Andaz hotel breakfast Liverpool St( 9:30).''

• The same day, at 9:44 a.m., Mifsud emailed Papadopoulos and Nawaf Obaid regarding" Libya CONFIDENTIAL.'' Papadopoulos also had another calendar entry for April 13, 2016, for one hour, for" 1 pm Lunch at Four Seasons,'' with Nawaf Obaid.

Polonskaya added to Mifsud 's response the following day, April 12, 2016, that she:

already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request.

The

Embassy in London is very much aware of this. As mentioned we are all very

excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump: The Russian

Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature[ sic] would be officially announced

The Committee does not have any insight into Polonskaya 's connection to the Russian Embassy in London.

v. Mifsud Introduces Papadopoulos to Ivan Timofeev

On April 18, 2016, the same day that Mifsud had told Papadopoulos he was flying to Moscow, Mifsud introduced Ivan Timofeev, Director of Programs at the Russian International Affairs Council( RIAC), to Papadopoulos via email. Timofeev has led the" Euro-Atlantic Security'' program at the Valdai Discussion Club since 2015 and has served as a professor at the Academy for Military Science in Russia since 2013, according to open source information. In the initial introductory message, Mifsud wrote:

Dear George, Ivan,

As promised I had a long conversation today in Moscow with my dear friend Ivan from RIAC about a possible meeting between the two of you. Ivan is ready to meet with you in London( or USA or Moscow). I am putting the two of you in touch to discuss when and where this potential meeting can actually take place. Best wishes for your endeavours...

Kind regards, Joseph.

According to the Valdai Discussion Club 's website, Mifsud appeared as part of a panel discussion in Moscow in April 2016, alongside Stephan Roh. Timofeev moderated the discussion, which focused on the geopolitical and oil market implications after a recent gathering of oil-producing nations.

Papadopoulos responded the same day, April 18, 2016, suggesting that he and Timofeev meet in London later in the month. In a series of email messages, Timofeev and Papadopoulos scheduled a Skype call for Friday, April 22, 2016.

On April 21, 2016, Papadopoulos sent an email message to Mifsud with the subject" Meeting tomorrow,'' in which he asked if the professor was''[ f] ree to meet tomorrow for a follow up? ''

During an interview with the FBI, Papadopoulos recalled:

[ H] aving a Skype call with Timofeev on April 22, 2016 which he believed was the first of two Skype calls he had with Timofeev in total. Papadopoulos could not remember any details about what was discussed during the call; however he surmised the two likely discussed relations between Russia, Israel, Cyprus, and China. The two may also have discussed setting up a potential meeting between Timofeev and Papadopoulos; however, Papadopoulos could not recall that with any certainty. Papadopoulos then reiterated he had been pushing hard for a meeting with the Russians after his initial conversation with Clovis on March 6, 2016

Following the Skype call, Timofeev wrote," George, thank you for an extensive talk! I propose to meet in London or in Moscow. What do you think? '' Papadopoulos responded:

Regarding a meeting- how about we set one up here in London with the Ambassador as well to discuss a process moving forward? Can you come next week? It 's my objective to set the ground work for a potential trip and to understand the US.-Russia relationship before I submit to my team

Timofeev responded to Papadopoulos on April 24, 2016, stating," Next week is totally impossible, for I have to renew my visa. I shall also need to consult with Minister Ivanov.'' The next day, April 25, 2016, Timofeev wrote to Papadopoulos:

Dear George,

I have just talked to Igor Ivanov-the President of RIAC and former Foreign Minister of Russia. His advise[ sic] is to start preparation of the Moscow visit via the Russian Embassy in Washington, for the issue is of political kind. Would you be available for a quick talk today?

Keep in touch, Ivan

According to FBI records, Papadopoulos searched Linkedln for" alisher usmanov'' on April 24, 2016. The Committee has no indication as to why Papadopoulos would conduct this search, but based on Papadopoulos 's previous behavior, it would be logical to assume that Timofeev may have raised Usmanov in conversation. According to Forbes, Usmanov is an Russian business magnate, who was estimated to have a net worth of$ 12.6 billion in March 2020.[ REDACTED][ REDACTED]

Between April 25, 2016, and April 27, 2016, Papadopoulos and Timofeev exchanged emails to coordinate another Skype call to discuss Timofeev 's email from April 25, 2016, regarding Igor Ivanov 's advice to plan the Moscow visit via the Russian Embassy in Washington. The email exchange concluded with a message from Papadopoulos, noting," I have a couple of minutes to talk now before Mr. Trump 's speech, I am on[ S] kype.''

Papadopoulos recalled speaking with Timofeev via Skype on April 27, 2016. Papadopoulos characterized the interaction as" strange,'' as he remembered Timofeev being overly formal during the call. Papadopoulos also described hearing static noises on the call, which Papadopoulos thought suggested that someone was recording the call.

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Senate Intelligence Report IIIE1-4v - George Papadopoulos - Intro, Limitations, Mifsud, Foreign Governments.

see https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf

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