Trump and Sessions Denied Knowing About Russian Contacts. Records Suggest Otherwise.<br />At a Feb. 16, 2017, White House news conference, a reporter asked Mr. Trump, “Can you say whether you are aware<br />that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with Russia during the course of the election?”<br />“No,” Mr. Trump said.<br />At a March 31, 2016, meeting between Mr. Trump and his foreign policy team, Mr. Papadopoulos introduced himself and said “that he had connections<br />that could help arrange a meeting between then-candidate Trump and President Putin,” according to court records.<br />Records in that case show that George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy adviser, had frequent discussions with Russians in 2016<br />and trumpeted his connections in front of Mr. Trump and Mr.<br />For months, journalists have revealed evidence that associates of Mr. Trump met with Russians during the campaign and the presidential transition.<br />“The media’s willingness to inflate Papadopoulos, a young unpaid volunteer<br />and supposed energy expert, into an important thought leader in the campaign or Russian operative is ludicrous,” Mr. Cobb said.<br />Several of Mr. Trump’s campaign advisers attended the March 2016 meeting,<br />and at least two of those advisers are now in the White House: Hope Hicks, the communications director, and Stephen Miller, a senior policy adviser.
