Mysterious Putin 'niece' has a name
Source: Politico
The exact identity of a 'very good-looking' Russian national who told George Papadopoulos she could broker meetings between the Trump camp and Kremlin officials remains an enigma.
By ALI WATKINS 11/09/2017 05:56 PM EST
Federal investigators have a name for a mysterious Russian woman who offered to help broker meetings between former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and Kremlin officials: Olga Vinogradova.
The name, which has not previously been reported, has taken on new significance for federal investigators seeking to more fully understand the role of the woman, whom Papadapoulos initially described in emails to campaign colleagues as “Putin’s niece," before later learning she was unrelated to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Papadopoulos referred to Vinogradova by name in his campaign-era emails during the spring of 2016, sources tell POLITICO. Introduced to Papadopoulos in March of that year by a London-based academic, Joseph Mifsud, she was part of what federal investigators suspect may have been a Russian effort to infiltrate Trump’s campaign team with the help of intermediaries, or “cut outs.”
Papadopoulos's emails do not make immediately clear who Vinogradova — who could have been using an alias — worked for, where she lived, or her connection to Mifsud, POLITICO learned from one source. The surname is fairly common in Russia, and POLITICO could not independently determine who Vinogradova is.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/09/putin-niece-olga-vinogradova-george-papadopoulos-russia-probe-244758
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