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BREAKING: Putin Seems to Have Met Papadopoulos Pal Kammenos in Athens the Same Week Papadoulos Was There Meeting Him
2/ On May 27, 2016, Putin was "greeted by Greek Defence Minister Panos Kammenos among other officials" when he arrived in Athens, Greece.
3/ Kammenos was Papadopoulos' contact in the Greek government and the two met and spoke several times during 2016.
4/ Athens daily Kathimerini says Papadopoulos was in Athens two months after joining Trump's team on March 21, 2016. kathimerini.gr/883364/article…
5/ During his trip Papadopoulos met with the President of the Republic of Cyprus (Pavlopoulos) and, it appears, his contact Panos Kammenos.
6/ Putin met Pavlopoulos while he was in Athens. This, and Kathimerini's timeline, seem to put Papadopoulos in Athens while Putin was there.
7/ If indeed Papadopoulos was in Athens while Putin was, Kammenos was in a position to make an introduction between Putin and Trump's aide.
8/ Papadopoulos repeatedly told the Trump campaign prior to and after May 27, 2016 that he could orchestrate a meeting with Putin himself.
9/ While a Papadopoulos-Putin-Kammenos meetup can't be confirmed, it seems all three were in Athens together and all three wanted a meeting.
10/ J.D. Gordon recently said Trump's NatSec team felt it had to "appease and not upset" the younger Papadopoulos, suggesting he had power.
11/ Writer Scott Stedman appears to have done great work connecting Kammenos and Putin in multiple Medium articles: medium.com/@ScottMStedman…
12/ Media must determine from Kammenos when he met Papadopoulos in Athens and with whom—a Papadopoulos-Putin meeting would be a smoking gun.
13/ This is especially true now that we know the White House lied about there only being one meeting of Trump's NatSec team. There were two.
14/ The second meeting occurred at the Capitol Hill Club and at that second meeting Sessions spoke to Papadopoulos. cnn.com/2017/11/02/pol…
15/ It appears the Sessions-Papadopoulos meeting at the Capitol Hill Club was just a couple weeks after Papadopoulos returned from Athens.
16/ The two were seated next to one another but Sessions—in another seeming lie—says he can't recall talking to him. washingtonpost.com/politics/for-l…
17/ Sessions was Papadopoulos' boss—if he had a message from Putin and/or Putin pal Kammenos for Trump, he'd have told Sessions on that day.
18/ Team Trump has repeatedly lied about the March 31, 2016 NatSec meet and Papadopoulos' role—this may explain why. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/p…
19/ I've said before that Sessions is a Mueller target, and perjured himself because the truth would be more damaging than a perjury charge.
20/ If Sessions was a conduit for info from Papadopoulos directly from Putin and/or from Putin via Kammenos, it would explain his perjuries.
21/ It could be coincidence Putin was in Athens while Papadopoulos was also there—and was meeting with Papadopoulos' pal—but it's unlikely.
22/ It's unlikely because Papadopoulos said he had access to Putin, Putin wanted a channel to Trump, and Kammenos was a facilitator of both.
23/ Papadopoulos' access to Putin-sympathizing Greek government officials—and his ability to speak Greek in doing so—would explain his role.
24/ And meetings in Greece would also be less likely to be seen as suspicious by media or Trump critics, given the U.S.-Greece relationship.
25/ I don't myself have the resources to follow up on this story now, but there are enough facts itemized here to encourage others to do so.
PS/ I owe a debt of gratitude to @anthony and Scott Stedman for pointing me in this direction, after which I discovered Putin's Greece trip.
PS2/ I owe a greater debt to the person—who wishes to remain anonymous—who DM'd me days ago to note the Papadopoulos-Kammenos relationship.
PS3/ Covering Trump-Russia is mostly about connecting far-flung but publicly reported facts—so those who find key data points are essential.
PS4/ Kammenos has touted Papadopoulos as being "close" to Trump, even as Trump says otherwise. This may explain why. sputniknews.com/us/20170121104…
PS5/ I didn't put the possibility Papadopoulos met with Putin in the first tweet in this thread because—while likely—it's not yet confirmed.
PS6/ All this occurs in the context of Trump—and Putin—pal Sergei Millian conceding he had contact with Papadopoulos before Trump hired him.
PS7/ Given the Millian tie between Trump and Papadopoulos—and Papadopoulos and *Putin*—the events in this thread are readily understandable.
PS8/ Kathimerini's reporting—saying Trump MET and CALLED Papadopoulos before hiring him—would also then make sense: translate.google.com/translate?act=…
PS9/ It's clear Trump lied about how well he knew Papadopoulos—and *how* he knew him—and that Sessions has lied about his contacts with him.
PS10/ Trump tweeting about Papadopoulos using his first name—and conceding *some* people in the campaign knew him—would also make sense now.
SOURCES/ I mentioned finding Scott Stedman's Medium work extremely valuable. You can locate and follow him on Twitter here: @scottmstedman.
NOTE/ Note that Kathimerini and/or Google Translate misidentifying the title Pavlopoulos holds in no way alters the contents of this thread.
