The wife of former Trump campaign aide 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 participated Wednesday in a voluntary interview with Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee.

Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos appearance on Capitol Hill comes after she has increasingly become her husband’s public defender since he pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators last year. He is said to be cooperating with 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 as part of the investigation into Russian interference.

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Mangiante Papadopoulos is the second witness to cooperate with Democrats on the panel, who have vowed to continue to conduct witness interviews even after their GOP colleagues decided to conclude its Russia probe in March.

In an usual showing, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Nancy PelosiHoyer: House should vote on COVID-19 aid — with or without a bipartisan deal Ruth Bader Ginsburg lies in repose at Supreme Court McCarthy threatens motion to oust Pelosi if she moves forward with impeachment MORE (D-Calif.), an ex-officio member of the Intel panel, said she had a quick word with the witness behind the closed-door space where Mangiante was being interviewed. ADVERTISEMENT

“Welcome, and we seek the truth, and we wish the Republicans would have enabled this to happen in a bipartisan way,” Pelosi said, recalling what she said to Mangiante.

The top House Democrat added that her Republican colleagues have “refused’ to hear from “scores of witnesses” like Mangiante, as well as Maria Butina, the Russian woman who was indicted this week for working as a foreign agent in the U.S. on behalf of the Kremlin.

Mangiante Papadopoulos defended her husband, saying he tried to set up a meeting with President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden on Trump's refusal to commit to peaceful transfer of power: 'What country are we in?' Romney: 'Unthinkable and unacceptable' to not commit to peaceful transition of power Two Louisville police officers shot amid Breonna Taylor grand jury protests MORE and Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of his job as a foreign policy adviser, but “nothing else.”

“He has done everything in the interest of the country and he is being completely truthful and cooperating and now we wait for the verdict of the jury,” she told reporters after leaving the four-hour interview, adding that he would likely be willing to also interview with members of Congress.

Mangiante Papadopoulos said she also answered questions about her time working for Joseph Mifsud, the London-based professor that prosecutors allege was the link that connected Papadopoulos and Kremlin officials.

When asked by The Hill if members of the Trump campaign ever encouraged her husband to make contact with Russia, she said that is “beyond her knowledge.”

In television appearances as well as on her Twitter account, she has called on Trump to pardon her husband, who she says has been unfairly targeted because of his role on the Trump campaign.

Papadopoulos’s wife has also created a GoFundMe page that is looking to raise $75,000 to help pay off the couple's legal fees. “His role in the ‘Russia Investigation’ has been profoundly misunderstood and abused,” she wrote on her GoFundMe page, which has raised $470 to date.

Republicans, who want nothing to do with additional Russia-related interviews since they voted along party lines to end the probe in March, refused to grant Democrats access to the committees for their interviews, according to a committee source.

This forced Democrats on the panel to interview the witness in an unsecured room within a House congressional building, rather than the committee’s secure committee space that is typically used for the panel’s witness interviews.

“They will not allow us to use any committee spaces or transcription services, which are provided for free to House committees. We have to not only schedule rooms, but [also] get transcription services from the leader’s office as an ex-officio member,” the source said, referring to Pelosi.

The White House has sought to distance itself from George Papadopoulos, describing him as a low-level “coffee boy” who did not have access or power within the Trump campaign.

Papadopoulos, however, has emerged as a central figure in the Russia investigation after he told an Australian diplomat in London that the Russians had damaging information on Democrat Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonDemocratic groups using Bloomberg money to launch M in Spanish language ads in Florida The Hill's Campaign Report: Presidential polls tighten weeks out from Election Day More than 50 Latino faith leaders endorse Biden MORE -- remarks that were then shared with the FBI.

The FBI began investigating ties between the Trump campaign contacts and Moscow during the 2016 election, and it is believed that George Papadopoulos’ remarks about Clinton dirt played a role in launching the counterintelligence probe that Mueller is now leading.