Fiancee Says Papadopoulos Was No Coffee Boy, Had Direct Communications With Bannon, Flynn [VIDEO]

ABC News reports:

The Italian fiancee of George Papadopoulos offered the first public defense of the embattled former Trump campaign adviser, who in October was revealed as the first campaign adviser to plead guilty and cooperate with the special counsel’s Russia probe.

“George is very loyal to his country,” Simona Mangiante told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview. “He is already on the right side of history. I think he will make a big difference.”

Mangiante said she decided to speak publicly to counter claims from President Donald Trump and his aides that Papadopoulos was, as Trump tweeted, a “young, low level volunteer.” Or in the words of campaign adviser Michael Caputo, a “coffee boy.” Mangiante said he was far from a bit player in the historic Republican campaign.

More from the New York Post:

Mangiante also claimed that Papadopoulos had direct communication with former Trump advisers Steven Bannon and Michael Flynn, noting that she had personally seen correspondence between the parties.

The fiancée said she has proof that Papadopoulos was in the know — but her attorneys instructed her not to provide emails to the news media. “He never took any initiative, as far as I know, [that was] unauthorized. All the initiatives had [the] blessing of the campaign,” she told ABC News.

Mangiante, who works in Brussels for the European Parliament, has been questioned by the FBI.