Papadopoulos to Newsmax: Living in Gray Zone Last 4 Years Over Dossier

George Papadopoulos, a former adviser to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, told Newsmax he's been living ''completely in the gray zone'' over the last four years because of an ex-MI6 agent who had an ax to grind.

''This went a little further than googling Donald Trump and his background. This went into actually overtly seeking to apply disinformation and confusion to the election process,'' Papadopoulos said Friday on "Eric Bolling: The Balance" regarding the dossier compiled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele.

It was used by the FBI as a basis for the investigation of the Trump campaign's possible ties to Russia. 

''They felt that Christopher Steele, because he was an ex-MI6 official, that the FBI would basically accept what he was presenting to them without question,'' Papadopoulos said.

Igor Danchenko, a Russia analyst who worked with Steele, was indicted Thursday as part of special counsel John Durham's investigation. Danchenko, the primary researcher of claims in the dossier, was charged with five counts of making false statements to the FBI about his sources of certain assertions in the document.

The FBI's investigation originated with Papadopoulos in July 2016.

''This is an incredibly convoluted story that is based on complete disinformation,'' said Papadopoulos, 33.

''This is not a black-and-white story. We have been living completely in the gray zone over the last four years, and that is by design and completely intentional.

''When an opposition research that is being financed by the Clinton campaign — Fusion GPS — goes out to pay an ex-MI6 agent who had an ax to grind against a rival presidential candidate, you understood that they knew exactly what they were doing.''

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in 2017 to lying to FBI agents about the timing and significance of his contacts with people who said they had ties to top Russian officials.

Trump fully pardoned him in December 2020.

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