George PapadopoulosGeorge Demetrios PapadopoulosTale of two FBI cases: Clinton got warned, Trump got investigated Trump says he would consider pardons for those implicated in Mueller investigation New FBI document confirms the Trump campaign was investigated without justification MORE reportedly lied to FBI agents out of loyalty to President Trump, according to ABC News, citing a source “with direct knowledge” of the special council's Russia investigation.

Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy aide on the Trump campaign, pleaded guilty last month to lying to FBI agents about his contacts with Russian nationals during the campaign. According to the court documents, Papadopoulos offered to set up a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin during the campaign.

The charges and guilty plea were unsealed last month as part of special counsel Robert Mueller Robert (Bob) MuellerCNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting The Hill's 12:30 Report: New Hampshire fallout MORE’s investigation into Russia's meddling in the 2016 presidential election, including any possible ties between the Trump campaign and Moscow.

ADVERTISEMENT

The source told ABC that Papadopoulos lied to the FBI because he did not want to contradict the president’s denouncement of claims that his campaign had contact with Russian officials.

Since the revelations about Papadopoulos’s admission surfaced, Trump and other officials have tried to distance themselves from the former aide, calling him a low-level “volunteer” and “the coffee boy.”

But more information about Papadopoulos’s role in the campaign shows that he often represented the campaign in meetings with foreign officials and in other public engagements.