According to the New York Times, the FBI investigation into Russian collusion began after drunken Trump campaign volunteer, George Papadopoulos, reportedly told Australian diplomat Alexander Downer at a London bar in May, 2016 that “Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.” When DNC emails began to leak, Australia apparently contacted US intelligence to report the drunken admission by Papadopoulos – igniting the Russia probe.
This is in stark contrast to GOP leaders who say that a salacious and unverified 34-page opposition research dossier triggered the probe, a claim repeated by President Trump on Tuesday:
WOW, @foxandfrlends “Dossier is bogus. Clinton Campaign, DNC funded Dossier. FBI CANNOT (after all of this time) VERIFY CLAIMS IN DOSSIER OF RUSSIA/TRUMP COLLUSION. FBI TAINTED.” And they used this Crooked Hillary pile of garbage as the basis for going after the Trump Campaign!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2017
Four days later, the New York Times crafted an alternate explanation involving Papadopoulos:
WASHINGTON — During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.
About three weeks earlier, Mr. Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Mrs. Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.
Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role.
The NYT’s Adam Goldman – who worked on the article as part of a six-person effort, tweeted the report, stating “Dossier had nothing to do with @FBI opening July 2016 investigation into Russian election meddling. George Papadopoulos outreach op and Russian hacking did,” which the NYT’s Maggie Haberman retweeted.
Unfortunately for the New York Times – much like CNN’s botched “Bombshell” report from a few weeks ago that Donald Trump Jr. was told about the WikiLeaks emails before their release, only to issue a major correction because Trump Jr. was told after they were made public (by a random person), this “startling revelation” ny the NYT that Papadopoulos spilled the beans about Russia having dirt on Clinton was already public information.
Cue the NYT getting split like a cord of wood by the Conservative Treehouse‘s TheLastRefuge, who dressed down the entire Papadopoulos narrative in a 21-tweet dissertation (below).
The thread begins with this tweet, with the rest condensed below:
1) Um Maggie, [@maggieNYT ] hate to undercut your *explosive story* on origin of Russia Probe. But George Papadopoulos talking in May 2016, is likely about this *open and public information* from April 2016. https://t.co/t9qtqDoLdQ
— TheLastRefuge (@TheLastRefuge2) December 30, 2017
July 15th 2016 Comey opens counterintel investigation into Russian collusion.
January 15th 2017 FBI visits Papadopoulos for first time.
FBI waited for six months to talk to him?
Not even once?

After the April 19, 2016, WH visit, the DNC and Clinton campaign hire Mary and Glenn (Fusion GPS) for the “trump project”.






Meanwhile, as pointed out by The Gateway Pundit‘s Cristina Laila, the Washington Examiner’s Byron York further tore into the NYT report:
So: 1) If Papadopoulos actions drove FBI probe, why wait til nearly Feb 2017 to interview him? If done to keep probe quiet before election, why wait more than two months after vote? 2/4
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 30, 2017
2) When did officials brief Congress about Papadopoulos? They briefed Congress about Carter Page in late summer 2016. 3/4
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 30, 2017
3) Did officials seek a surveillance warrant on Papadopoulos? They reportedly got one on Carter Page in summer 2016. Did they try to get one on Papadopoulos? If not, why not? 4/4
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 30, 2017
One add: Not saying Papadopoulos played no role. But questions about whether his part was so central in starting FBI probe in July 2016.
— Byron York (@ByronYork) December 30, 2017
Perhaps the most embarassing part for the New York Times isn’t that they appear to have published yet another massive case of Fake News – but that it took six of their ‘best and brightest’ to cobble it together.
Comments »