Federal investigators have a name for a mysterious Russian woman who offered to help broker meetings between former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and Kremlin officials: Olga Vinogradova.

The name, which has not previously been reported, has taken on new significance for federal investigators seeking to more fully understand the role of the woman, whom Papadapoulos initially described in emails to campaign colleagues as “Putin’s niece," before later learning she was unrelated to Russian President Vladimir Putin.


Papadopoulos referred to Vinogradova by name in his campaign-era emails during the spring of 2016, sources tell POLITICO. Introduced to Papadopoulos in March of that year by a London-based academic, Joseph Mifsud, she was part of what federal investigators suspect may have been a Russian effort to infiltrate Trump’s campaign team with the help of intermediaries, or “cut outs.”

Papadopoulos's emails do not make immediately clear who Vinogradova — who could have been using an alias — worked for, where she lived, or her connection to Mifsud, POLITICO learned from one source. The surname is fairly common in Russia, and POLITICO could not independently determine who Vinogradova is.

Vinogradova has emerged as one more shadowy figure in the still-unfolding story of contacts between Trump associates and the Russian government. Russia’s intelligence services rely heavily on third-party cutouts with vague or hidden ties to the Kremlin, including academics, businessmen, oligarchs, and even “honey traps”: attractive women who lure their targets into illicit liaisons that can be used for blackmail.

Whether Vinogradova might fit into one of those categories is unclear, but the answer could be an important puzzle piece for federal investigators trying to understand the Kremlin’s method.

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Mifsud did not respond to requests for comment. But in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica last week, he referred to Vinogradova as "just a student, a very good-looking one." Papadopoulos's interest in her, Mifsud said, was "very different from an academic one."

Papadopoulos was arrested in July, as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian efforts to undermine the 2016 election. Among other charges, Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to investigators about his contacts with Vinogradova.

The court documents describe Vinogradova only as a “Female Russian National.” Mifsud is described only as a “Professor” but has confirmed to reporters that he is the same person. He denies being a Russian agent.

According to court documents citing Papadopoulos’s email correspondence with campaign officials, it was Mifsud who introduced Vinogradova to Papadopoulos as “a relative of Russian President Vladimir Putin" brokered a March 24, 2016 meeting between the two in London. (Papadopoulos went on to refer to Vinogradova as "Putin's niece" in emails to Trump campaign officials, but court documents say he eventually learned she was unrelated to the Russian leader.)

Mifsud introduced Vinogradova to Papadopoulos as someone with high-profile ties to the Russian government, which was then seeking better relations with the U.S. and an end to western economic sanctions imposed over Russian aggression in Ukraine.

One Papadaooulos email to Trump campaign officials said that the woman had offered “to arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump."

“I have already alerted my personal links to our conversation and your request,” Vinogradova said in an email to Papadopoulos in April, after Papadopoulos asked for help arranging a trip to Moscow.

“As mentioned we are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump. The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced,” she added.

A lawyer for Papadopoulos declined to comment. Mifsud did not respond to a request for comment.

Mifsud, a Maltese academic with established ties to the Kremlin, told Papadopoulos in April 2016 that the Russians had acquired “dirt” on then-prospective Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. A few months later, in July, Wikileaks released thousands of emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee emails. The US intelligence community later concluded the leak of those emails was part of a broader, Kremlin-directed effort to undermine the 2016 election and undercut Clinton’s candidacy.

Papadopoulos continued corresponding with Vinogradova throughout the spring of 2016, including multiple efforts to arrange a meeting in Russia between the Trump campaign and government connections Vinogradova purported to have.

Trump campaign officials encouraged some of his efforts, according to the court documents. “Great work,” said one. Another told him to travel to Russia “if it is feasible.”

Trump named Papadopoulos as a member of his campaign foreign policy team in March 2016, calling him an “excellent guy” in a March 2016 interview with the Washington Post. But since news of his arrest became public, the Trump White House has downplayed Papadopoulos’s importance, calling him an unpaid volunteer and that the advisory team on which he served met only once

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said last week that Papadopoulos’s work for the campaign was “extremely limited” and that he never served in an “official capacity.”

Josh Meyer and Naomi O’Leary contributed reporting.