President Donald Trump on Tuesday tweeted that "few people knew" the campaign aide who pleaded guilty this month to lying to federal investigators, and continued to insist there was "no collusion" between Russia and his team.
It was a rollicking Monday in Washington, D.C. where Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort surrendered to federal authorities after being indicted on 12 counts related to money laundering activity. News also broke that Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papapdopoulos admitted to lying about a conversation with Russian nationals.
Trump, reportedly angry about the developments on Monday, got up Tuesday and tweeted, "The Fake News is working overtime. As Paul Manforts [sic] lawyer said, there was 'no collusion' and events mentioned took place long before he came to the campaign. Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has already proven to be a liar. Check the DEMS!"
Records show Papadopoulos has been cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's sprawling Russia investigation, which yielded its first indictments with the charges against Manafort and his business partner Richard Gates.
Trump added, "I hope people will start to focus on our Massive Tax Cuts for Business (jobs) and the Middle Class (in addition to Democrat corruption)!"
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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday called Papadopoulos "a volunteer member of an advisory council that literally met one time."
Trump name-dropped Papadopoulos in March of 2016 as one of his foreign policy advisers, calling him an "excellent guy," but Time noted he had little experience in the arena and still listed Model U.N. among his work experience on his LinkedIn page.