Former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos' guilty plea was just the beginning of what was revealed in the highly detailed indictment filed against him, and more indictments will be coming in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia and the 2016 presidential election, Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday.
"This is showing why I fought so hard for a special counsel," the Connecticut Democrat told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program."The George Papadopoulos conviction was absolutely staggering in its detail and what it did not reveal that no doubt, he has told the special counsel."
Papadopoulos pleaded guilty earlier in October to one count of lying to the FBI, in a plea agreement that was not announced until Monday. The arrangement was announced on the same day President Donald Trump's former campaign adviser Paul Manafort and deputy adviser Rick Gates turned themselves in to the FBI and pleaded not guilty to a 12-count indictment charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States and several counts of money laundering.
"He had multiple exposure to many counts" of violating U.S. code against lying to the FBI," said Blumenthal of Papadopoulos. "It was reduced to one count. Each count would have been five or six years. This deal shows the special counsel is counting on cooperation."
That is illustrated in the documents on Papadopoulos, in which it is described in "depth and detail, breadth" about contacts with Russians, said Blumenthal, including details about how the campaign had been offered "dirt" on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
"What it revealed is there is a lot more we can expect, other than indictments," said Blumenthal. "It's the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end."
Blumenthal said he also believes more could be coming concerning the Manafort indictment.
"They they talked about money moved from accounts to buy things in the United States. That's why they were trying to prove this trail of tax fraud and money laundering," he said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are more charges coming and if we're talking about more money."