papadopoulos exchanged numerous messages on facebook with foreign contacts, one of whom he believed to be a russian national with connections to the russian ministry of foreign affairs. in february papadopoulos shut down his facebook account a day after speaking with fbi agents in a follow-up interview, an action the fbi believe demonstrated intent to obstruct and impede the fbi's ongoing investigation. papadopoulos' attorney declined to officially decline stating we will have the opportunity to comment on george's involvement when called upon by the court at a later date. we look forward to presenting all the facts that led to the events that resulted in this charge. papadopoulos joined the trump campaign in march of 2016 after briefly serving as an adviser on ben carson's campaign. according to his linkedin page papadopoulos graduated from depaul university in 2009 before earning his masters in securities studies in london. a former trump campaign official described papadopoulos as having