(THREAD) News that Trump offered Papadopoulos a "blank check" to choose any administration job he wanted after the election, coupled with reports Papadopoulos lied to the FBI a few weeks later "out of loyalty to Trump," suggests the possibility of new Obstruction charges—read on. 
2/ According to ABC News, George Papadopoulos told the FBI that he lied to them repeatedly during a January 2017 interview out of "loyalty" to Donald Trump. He said he wanted his story on Russia to match the President's.
His lies were charges as crimes. abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…
His lies were charges as crimes. abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump…
3/ New reporting also indicates Papadopoulos told Greek media, in December 2016, that after the 2016 presidential election Mr. Trump gave him a "blank check" to choose any job in the administration he wanted—an enormous economic and professional windfall.
4/ At the same time, we now have reports Papadopoulos was in contact with Hope Hicks (and thus Trump) about clandestine trips he made to Greece during which he met with Putin allies and (potentially) Kremlin officials or Putin himself.
And this matters.
And this matters.
5/ We know Trump had knowledge of Papadopoulos' status as a Kremlin intermediary, as Papadopoulos told him this directly on March 31st, 2016; Papadopoulos says Trump later offered him a "blank check" job offer; and now Papadopoulos says he lied to the FBI out of loyalty to Trump.
6/ Given that Papadopoulos was still with the campaign on Inauguration Day—he attended a meeting with Greek Defense Minister and Putin ally Panos Kammenos and the new Chief of Staff for the President of the United States Reince Priebus at the inauguration—he was expecting a job.
7/ So on January 20, 2017, Papadopoulos is holding a "blank check" from a man (Trump) who knows about his (Papadopoulos') connection to the Russians and is lying about it to America—and a week later he *lies to the FBI* in an effort to keep the job opportunity he'd been promised.
8/ When Trump gave Papadopoulos a "blank check" he a) knew a federal criminal investigation was under way; b) knew Papadopoulos was likely to be a witness in the investigation; c) knew Papadopoulos had done things the FBI would want to know about; and d) knew his offer had value.
9/ We know that Bob Mueller has an entire team of agents dedicated to looking at Obstruction charges against the President; we know Papadopoulos is now a "proactive cooperator." That means Mueller has the facts to use Papadopoulos for a new Obstruction case against the President.
10/ Per usual, Trump has hung himself with his own words: by calling Papadopoulos a "low-level volunteer" who "few on the campaign knew," he's confirmed the only reason he'd offer Papadopoulos a "blank check" is if Papadopoulos were going to *confer a benefit to Trump* in return.
11/ The benefit the facts of the case suggest Trump sought was Papadopoulos' *silence*—and it seems clear now that that's how Papadopoulos understood his job offer, too, as he lied to protect it.
And of course this isn't the first time Trump has obstructed or witness-tampered.
And of course this isn't the first time Trump has obstructed or witness-tampered.
12/ Just days after Trump inexplicably called federal criminal investigation witness Mike Flynn and told him to "stay strong"—and keep in mind, both men knew that Trump had the power to pardon—Flynn *refused to hand over key Russia documents* to Congress. thehill.com/homenews/admin…
13/ The media has under-reported the fact that Comey's firing is *not* the only reason Bob Mueller has an entire team of attorneys and agents dedicated to bringing Obstruction charges against the President. The Flynn phone call and the Papadopoulos job offer establish a pattern.
14/ So don't be fooled into thinking that Papadopoulos is only useful to the FBI as a "proactive cooperator" who between July 27, 2017 and October 30, 2017 was in a position to intercept inculpatory communications from top Trump aides via wire, phone, email, text or social media.
15/ While the sealing of Papadopoulos' arrest on July 27, 2017 does suggest he was used by the FBI to gather new inculpatory evidence, Papadopoulos is also in a position to a) tell the FBI about Trump's course of lying on Russia, and b) help make out a new Obstruction case. {end}
PS/ Note that, per media reports, Trump wanted to re-hire Flynn right after he fired him, then let it be known he'd re-hire Flynn once the Russia probe was over. So he's *repeatedly* used job offers to try to secure witnesses' silence in the Russia probe. independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…
