Trump Campaign Adviser Met With Russian to Discuss ‘Dirt’ on Clinton<br />WASHINGTON — A professor with close ties to the Russian government told an adviser to Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign in April 2016<br />that Moscow had “dirt” on Hillary Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to court documents unsealed Monday.<br />George Papadopoulos, an adviser to the Trump campaign, contacted campaign officials<br />at least 11 times from March to June 2016 about a potential meeting.<br />Mr. Papadopoulos repeatedly tried to arrange a meeting between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials, court records show.<br />The plea represents the most explicit evidence that the Trump campaign was aware<br />that the Russian government was trying to help Mr. Trump and that the campaign was eager to accept that help.<br />Mr. Papadopoulos, formerly a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to the F. B.I.<br />in January that the professor was “a nothing.” But Mr. Papadopoulos now acknowledges<br />that he knew the professor had “substantial connections to Russian government officials.” Attempts to reach Mr. Papadopoulos on Monday were not successful.<br />The professor, who was not identified in court documents, introduced Mr. Papadopoulos to others, including someone connected to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs<br />and a woman who he believed was a relative of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin.
