Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos told FNC's Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures" that he was the target of an international effort to influence the 2016 election. He claims that people identifying themselves as diplomats from Britain, Israel, Italy, and Australia approached him during the 2016 election to talk about Hillary Clinton's emails.





BARTIROMO: We are awaiting a report from the DOJ's inspector general on the origins of the Russia investigation. He just said it'll be out in two weeks.

We're also learning that Attorney General William Barr met with intelligence officials in Italy this past week to reportedly discuss one of the central figures of the Russia investigation. And that is Joseph Mifsud.



Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos says he met with the mystery professor in 2016 after Mifsud offered Russian dirt about Hillary Clinton's hacked e-mails.



Joining me right now is the man himself, George Papadopoulos, former aide to the Trump campaign, author of the book "Deep State Target."



George, it's always a pleasure to see you. Thanks very much for joining us.



GEORGE PAPADOPOULOS, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN AIDE: Thanks for having me, Maria.



BARTIROMO: So, George, we have been looking at this timeline that we put together, based on our conversations with you and based on the documents that we have.



And in one year's time, you had all of this outreach by Israeli officials. You had Italian officials. You had diplomats from Britain, from the U.S. Mifsud, obviously, claimed that Russia had the e-mails back in 2016 of Hillary Clinton.



What were you thinking when all of these people were reaching out to you asking to go meet them at conferences?



PAPADOPOULOS: Yes, that's a really great point that you made.



So, essentially, within 48 hours of joining the Trump campaign, something that not even The Washington Post had reported at the time, I'm being invited to go to Rome, at the behest of a woman named Arvinder Sambei, who I used to work for in London, who I later found out actually had a working relationship with Bob Mueller after 9/11.



So that's very suspicious. And I'm invited to go to Rome at this university, where I'm introduced to Joseph Mifsud by none other than the former Italian foreign minister.



So this happened very quickly, within 48 hours of joining the campaign, before not even the American public knew I joined. So when I was being invited all of a sudden and wooed to all these cities and conferences, something wasn't adding up, quite frankly.



BARTIROMO: So, that first meeting, when Arvinder Sambei invited you to go to Rome and introduced you to Joseph Mifsud, let's just point out that, when you first joined or were considering leaving your other job, you went, and you got an outreach from somebody on LinkedIn to come work for the London Center of International Law Practice.



And Arvinder Sambei worked there. And then you found out that she was actually a close associate or friend with Bruce Ohr, who worked in the Department of Justice. Is that right?



PAPADOPOULOS: That's what our reports have subsequently explained about her, something, of course, I had no idea about in March or April of 2016.



BARTIROMO: OK.



So, she -- wow. So she's working at the London Center of International Law Practice. And she tells you -- she's friends with Bruce Ohr of the DOJ. She sends you to Rome to meet with Mifsud. Mifsud tells you that Russia has Hillary Clinton's e-mails.



George, we want to talk more about this, because there is more to come with this I.G. report out in two weeks.



Stay with us. We will take a short break and come right back.



(COMMERCIAL BREAK)



BARTIROMO: And I'm back with former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos.



And, George, we have been showing this timeline of all of these internationalists who reached out to you between 2016 and 2017, when you were working for the Trump campaign.



I think it's really interesting that, just this week, we learned new information, that the former prime minister of Italy is threatening to sue you. This is ex-Italian Prime Minister Renzi threatening to sue George Papadopoulos.



What do you think this is all about, George?



(LAUGHTER)



PAPADOPOULOS: Well, I think, obviously, somebody's connecting dots, and these dots are directly leading to Rome. And Rome might actually be the epicenter of this entire conspiracy, even more so than London, which I initially thought.



Look, Attorney General Barr was recently in Italy, along with John Durham. They were obviously looking into Joseph Mifsud's extensive connections to both the Italian government, documented, and Italian intelligence services.



And they will probably be looking into this University Link campus and Vincenzo Scotti.



BARTIROMO: Right.



PAPADOPOULOS: And who was the prime minister while all this was going on? Matteo Renzi.



And now, all of a sudden, he had some sort of meltdown a couple days ago. He's threatening to sue me. And he went on a rant about the president. So, clearly, he's feeling the heat.



BARTIROMO: And it feels like the CIA is also among the agencies that will be questioned as a result of gathering all of these people together, which really makes it look like this incredible network of diplomats across the world working with the CIA or the FBI.



We will see. We're getting the I.G. report in the next two weeks.



Let me ask you about that $10,000. Also, as part of this network of internationals who were reaching out to you, one of them gave you $10,000. Tell me about that. And where is that money today?



PAPADOPOULOS: Yes.



So, there had been a lot of discussion with the FBI during my first interview with them about the Israelis and my connections to the Israelis, and what I was up to in the energy business over there, which was all legal.



And then, all of a sudden, as I'm cooperating with the FBI, this individual who describes himself as an Israeli-American businessman wants to talk to me about the energy business, in theory. And I go to Israel with him. And then, all of a sudden, he's dropping $10,000 in cash in my hands, and -- which something I had no idea of really what he wanted it for.



So I give it to my lawyers after I leave Israel. I thought there was something very suspicious about it. And as I'm flying to -- back to the United States, I'm basically, you know, grabbed by seven FBI agents looking for money.



So, clearly, when I was detained, I thought it was about this money. I thought it was a setup. And I'm -- hopefully, this money is going to be looked into very soon, because I think it might lead to directly to the Treasury.



BARTIROMO: Wow.



So you think those bills are marked. The bills are still with your lawyer. And so you never accepted the $10,000, really, gave it to the lawyer, and that's where the money is right now?



PAPADOPOULOS: Yes, that's absolutely right.



BARTIROMO: OK.



George, it's good to have you on the program this morning. Thanks so much, an extraordinary story.