Iowa has claimed a piece of the action in the Trump campaign ties to Russia investigation. But not in a way we would want. Newly released records indicate Trump’s Iowa campaign co-chairman, Sam Clovis, in 2016 gave the OK for George Papadopoulos to go to Russia after the latter had offered.

"Make the trip, if it is feasible," Clovis e-mailed the Trump foreign-policy adviser in court papers unsealed Monday. Although his name wasn’t on the e-mail, Clovis’ attorney confirmed he wrote it. That was in response to Papadopoulos’ June 19 email declaring himself "willing to make the trip off the record if it's in the interest of Mr. Trump and the campaign to meet specific people."

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty this month to lying to the FBI about trying to dig up dirt on Hillary Clinton from the Russians. And Clovis last week withdrew his nomination as chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He did so with no apology, saying he didn’t want to become a distraction and probably wouldn’t get a fair hearing anyway.

His attorney, Victoria Toensing, has told the Washington Post that Clovis was just being polite by encouraging Papadopoulos to meet with Russian officials, but that Clovis has vigorously opposed any trip to Russia by Trump or the campaign. Encouraging someone to go would sure be a strange way of showing opposition to it.

Iowa’s U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who serves on both the Senate Agriculture and Judiciary committees, lamented Clovis’ withdrawal, calling it a lost opportunity “for a strong leader to serve Iowa’s farmers.”

Come on, folks. Let’s be honest. Clovis has zero scientific credentials for the chief scientist post to begin with. The former professor and right-wing radio host who has a doctorate in public administration is already a USDA staffer, but the investigative news site ProPublica could find no evidence he ever even took a graduate-level course in science. He believes human contributions to climate change are a hoax.

The chief scientist, who advises the government on scientific issues, has long been some leader in biochemistry, medicine, food nutrition, and ecosystem ecology. But Clovis has said the USDA under Trump would focus mostly on slashing regulations.

Sure, candidates of both parties have long rewarded campaign stalwarts with administration positions, and hired staffers who share their philosophy. But they should at least have relevant qualifications. At least former Gov. Terry Branstad can be said to have those as ambassador to China, based on his history with that country.

But Clovis? Until he joined Trump's campaign in the summer of 2015, Clovis had little use for Trump. He was chairing Rick Perry’s Iowa campaign. Just a month before jumping ship, he had publicly questioned Trump’s morality, Christianity and conservatism. He had also claimed to be "offended by a man who sought and gained four student deferments to avoid the draft and who has never served this nation a day ... in any fashion or way."

But once on Trump’s payroll, Clovis was singing his praises, saying Trump had one of the greatest intellects of anyone he had met. He even drew scorn from fellow conservative Republican Brad Zaun, who said Clovis risked losing credibility

To some of us, Clovis already had little credibility when he was denying climate change or claiming the nation's public schools were indoctrinating children with concepts like environmentalism and racism. Even his former employer of 10 years, Morningside College, has called Clovis’ support for Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims “outrageous and disappointing.”

But some party people stand by their own, regardless. Grassley, Iowa's senior U.S. senator, and Judiciary chairman, told reporters he had seen the emails and Clovis didn't appear to encourage travel to meet with Russian officials. Even Clovis' lawyer has acknowledged his role in that. But Grassley's spokesman, Michael Zona, said the senator had reviewed a number of additional e-mails from the Trump campaign that are classified but give a different context to Clovis telling Papadopoulos to make the trip. The senator told reporters "Moscow" was not specifically mentioned and that Papadopoulos was traveling to several countries.

Trump has told reporters he knew nothing about any campaign advisers having contact with Russia. But The New York Times, based on court records, has now reported Trump was at a March 31, 2016, meeting with Papadopoulos when the latter said he could help arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Jeff Sessions, now the U.S. attorney general, was also there and wanted nothing to do with it, according to The Times.

So who was this Papadopoulos and what qualified him to give advice on foreign policy? The now 30-year-old whom Trump called "an excellent guy" in March 2016 is now brushed off by the president as "a proven liar whom few people knew." At DePaul University, from which Papadopoulos graduated in 2009, a Russian politics professor who taught him has called it “absolutely shocking” that he held that role. “We knew his expertise was virtually nonexistent. It was thin and embellished," Richard Farkas told The Daily Beast.

It would be funny, if it weren't so tragic, to have unqualified people having such a big say in national policies. But that's not the worst part of this story. Evidence is mounting that the would-be president and his team of advisers actually saw fit to elicit a foreign power's help in undermining his opposing candidate. And that a prominent Iowa political operative was part of that.

Rekha Basu is an opinion columnist for The Des Moines Register. Contact: rbasu@dmreg.com Follow her on Twitter @RekhaBasu and at Facebook.com/ColumnistRekha. Her book, "Finding Her Voice: A collection of Des Moines Register columns about women's struggles and triumphs in the Midwest," is available at ShopDMRegister.com/FindingHerVoice