During an interview withThe New York Times this week,Papadopoulos,31,for the first time gave his own account of why he deceived FBI agents after they arrived at his house in Chicago that January asking about any connections between the Trump campaign and Russian intermediaries.
"I wanted to distance myself as much as possible — and Trump himself and the campaign — from what was probably an illegal action or dangerous information,"he said. At the time of the FBI interview,he said,he was being considered for a job in the Trump administration and was concerned about where the escalating investigation might lead. He made no suggestion that anyone else on the Trump campaign or in the administration had directed him to lie.
Papadopoulos met with Downer at the Kensington Wine Rooms in May,2016.