By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - President Donald Trump sought to downplay Tuesday the role of a campaign advisor who he slammed as being a "liar", months after naming George Papadopoulos to be one of a handful of foreign policy advisors.
"Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar," Trump wrote on Twitter.
But even if only a "few people" knew of Papadopolous, Trump was certainly one of them. A photo posted to his Instagram account on March 31, 2016 shows the American president in a meeting with his national security team. Papadopolous is seated prominently four seats away from Trump.
And in an interview with the Washington Post nearly two weeks prior, Trump described him as an "excellent guy"
The campaign advisor admitted to lying to the FBI about trying to set up a meeting between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government that reportedly had “dirt” on presidential rival Hillary Clinton.
His admission creates a link between the Trump campaign and Russian officials that could possibly lead to the president.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was the Trump campaign itself which voluntarily handed over Papadopolous' emails to the special investigation being led by former FBI chief Robert Mueller.
"That is what led to the process and the place that we're in right, was the campaign fully cooperating and helping with that," she told reporters.
News of Papadopolous' guilty plea came the same that fired Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, Rick Gates, surrendered to the FBI earlier in the day on charges of conspiracy against the U.S. and money laundering.