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Former Trump Communications Advisor Michael Caputo Brushes Off George Papadopoulos As The ‘Coffee Boy’

Before the press had adequately parsed through the unsealed indictment against the Donald Trump campaign’s former foreign advisor George Papadopoulos on Monday, the White House was already downplaying his role as that of a “volunteer.” And judging by ex-campaign communications advisor Michael Caputo’s appearance on CNN Tuesday morning, it seems this particular talking point won’t be going away anytime soon. After all, as the Republican political strategist and media consultant put it to New Day‘s Chris Cuomo, Papadopoulos was nothing more than a “coffee boy.”

“I read about it in the newspaper like everybody else did,” Caputo said of the charges against Papadopoulos, who plead guilty to making misleading statements in a previous interview with FBI agents. Caputo continued:

“In fact, I never heard of Papadopoulos. He never showed up at Trump Tower. Never had any interaction with any of the campaign leaders around me. The leader of the Washington office of the campaign didn’t know who he was until his name appeared in the press. He was the coffee boy. You might have called him a foreign policy analyst, but in fact, if he was going to wear a wire, all we’d know now is if he prefers a caramel macchiato over a regular American coffee in conversations with his barista.”

“He had nothing to do with the campaign,” Caputo insisted while CNN split-screened his interview feed with previously publicized shots of Papadopoulos sitting with the very campaign leaders he’d just said didn’t know him. “All of this contact with alleged Russians is something completely beyond the scope of his volunteer duties.

Right on cue, President Trump himself — who was evidently watching Caputo’s interview segment on CNN — chimed in on Twitter with his two cents. “Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George,” he claimed falsely, “who has already proven to be a liar.”

(Via CNN)