New George Papadopoulos tweet
Alexander Downer, Stefan Halper, Joseph Mifsud and Comey’s corrupt team had one thing in common: they made the foolish mistake to illicitly spy on me and never expected their methods and tactics would be revealed: that all changes now with the president declassifying my FISA case
https://twitter.com/GeorgePapa19/status/1111243703820189696
“I believe Australian and UK intelligence were involved in an active operation to target Trump and his associates,” Papadopoulos says.
Mr Downer has previously denied “spying” on Papadopoulous when they met and had drinks.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also dismissed the claim.
“The Australian government categorically rejects any allegation that it sought somehow to interfere in the US presidential election,” a DFAT spokesperson said.
Papadopoulos’ claims seem like Hollywood spy thriller fantasy but he makes an interesting case in his just released book, Deep State Target. It details his journey from an unknown energy analyst to an unpaid foreign aide on the Trump campaign, the meeting with Mr Downer, being grilled by the FBI, arrested at Washington Dulles Airport, prosecuted by Mueller and sentenced to 14 days’ prison in a facility in Wisconsin dubbed Camp Cupcake.
Along the way he met mysterious Maltese academic Dr Joseph Mifsud, a Russian woman dubbed “Vladimir Putin’s niece”, American academic Stefan Halper who Papadopoulos describes as “The Walrus” and a sexy Cambridge University research assistant with a “classic honey-pot act”.
Papadopoulos headlines his chapter on Mr Downer with “The Devil From Down Under” and describes him as “a stretched-out, grey-haired version of New Wave pop star Elvis Costello” and “oozing aggression”.
The drinks became infamous because Mr Downer claimed Papadopoulos told him, over just one gin and tonic each, Russia might use “damaging” material they had on Mr Trump’s presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the lead-up to the election. Mr Downer says he sent the information back to Canberra.
Weeks later when Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee was discovered, the information apparently became a potentially significant lead. Papadopoulos denies telling Mr Downer about the Russian information, but he does not deny the knowledge.
(more)
https://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/former-trump-aide-slams-alexander-downer-as-a-devil/news-story/2032315ac890f47ff6d92706ae87aeef
http://archive.fo/JzDPQ
Former Trump aide slams Alexander Downer as a ‘devil’
A former Trump aide has taken aim at ex-Minister for Foreign affairs Alexander Downer, branding him as the “devil from Down Under”.
On a recent morning in Hollywood, former Donald Trump aide George Papadopoulos was standing at the counter of the Bourgeois Pig, a hip, dimly-lit cafe on trendy Franklin Avenue.
The 31-year-old from Chicago is keen for a coffee, but the barista is AWOL. Mr Trump’s “coffee boy” can’t get a coffee.
“George, why don’t you jump over the counter and make us a couple of caramel macchiatos,” I suggest. We laugh.
Papadopoulos picked up the “coffee boy” title after he became one of Mr Trump’s first associates to be swept up by Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian collusion.
He entered a guilty plea to lying to the FBI and was sentenced to 14 days’ prison.
Mr Trump quickly gave Papadopoulos the flick, describing him as a “young, low-level volunteer”. Former Trump campaign adviser Michael Caputo piled on around the same time with the coffee boy tag.
“You might have called him a foreign-policy analyst, but if he was going to wear a wire, all we would have known now is whether he prefers a caramel macchiato over a regular American coffee,” Caputo told CNN.
Papadopoulos’ decision to have a drink with one of Australia’s most well-known politicians-turned diplomats, Alexander Downer, on a rainy May 10, 2016 evening in London has made Papadopoulos a potentially significant figure in Australian political history.
In the aftermath of the Robert Mueller probe finding no evidence of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, the president and his Republican Party are now determined to discover why the FBI launched a counterintelligence investigation just months before Mr Trump’s election win.
That rainy night meeting with Mr Downer at the Kensington Wine Rooms is expected to be put under the microscope.
“There is still this misunderstanding that Alexander Downer and I randomly met at a bar in London and he was drunk, I was drunk and we were apparently discussing conspiracy stuff,” Papadopoulos tells AAP.
“There is nothing further from the truth.”
Papadopoulos claims Mr Downer, then Australian high commissioner to the UK, and another Australian official, Erika Thompson, set up that bar meeting to spy on him.
Pauline Hanson defends One Nation staffers James Ashby and Steve Dickson
Pauline Hanson has defended the embattled One Nation officials James Ashby and Steve Dickson in her response to the explosive investigation by Al-Jazeera into the party's gun lobby ties. Flanked by the officials in her 18-minute long delivery, the One Nation leader described the report as a "hit piece" by an "Islamist" network, called Australian prime minister Scott Morrison a "fool", and accused the ABC of "not having an ethical bone in [its] body." Despite saying she was "disgusted" by the "stupid remarks" made by Ashby and Dickson, Hanson reiterated her support for them and concluded they must have been "stitched up."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtethcBJojg
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers deny links to NRA, blasts One Nation
The NSW Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party has denied it has links with the National Rifle Association while blasting One Nation as a "train wreck".
Shooters MP Robert Borsak said yesterday the party has never received money from the American organisation or any strategic campaign advice.
"We have not been to the NRA ever looking for money," he told reporters in Sydney.
One Nation's ties with the NRA came to light in a two-part documentary by Al Jazeera this week, also broadcast on the ABC, where party representatives were seen talking about the possibility of getting a $20 million donation to fund their federal election campaign.
"To actually see what's been going on with One Nation, and what a train wreck of a party they are, is unbelievable," Mr Borsak said.
He said seeking money from the NRA and talking about breaking down NSW gun laws is "the most ridiculous and outrageous and almost traitorous thing I think I've ever heard".
"Why would anyone want to in their right mind bring that death and destruction onto the streets of Sydney? I'm flabbergasted," he said.
"I just can't understand it. It's not in our parties, it's not in our community, it's not in anyone's interest to do that."
He called on Mark Latham, who leads One Nation in NSW and looks set to win a seat in the state's upper house, to make it clear he does not want to see a breakdown of firearm legislation in NSW.
During the state election campaign, the Liberal party recruited former prime minister John Howard to appear in an advertisement warning voters the Shooters would put guns into the hands of 10-year-olds.
Mr Borsak was on Friday asked if he wanted to put guns in the hands of 10-year-olds, based on the party's policy to introduce shooting lessons into all public schools.
He replied: "Let's make it high schools. We're talking about 12-year-olds."
Research by the Australia Institute has found Australian pro-gun advocates are spending as much per person on political donations as their powerful counterparts in America.
The National Rifle Association in the US spends far more overall than local equivalents such as the Shooting Industry Foundation Australia.
But the two groups spent a similar amount on political donations per million people in their respective countries, the study commissioned by Gun Control Australia finds.
In the 2018 cycle, the NRA spent $2512 per million US residents, while in 2015/16 - the financial year before the previous Australian election - the SIFA spent $2562 per million Australians.
In total, pro-gun groups and businesses have donated $1.7 million to Australian political parties in the past eight years.
Bob Katter's Australian Party has been the biggest beneficiary, receiving $808,750, followed by the Shooters Party who received $699,834.
The donations and other political campaigns attract little attention because the Australian lobby keeps them low key, the report says.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/one-nation-shooters-fishers-and-farmers-deny-links-to-nra-blast-one-nation/6a5156d2-62ef-4154-a272-056d2b969073