President Trump doubled down on his assertion yesterday that there was no collusion between his campaign and Russia, stating again that the crimes Paul Manafort allegedly committed occurred before his tenure with the Trump campaign while addressing George Papadopoulos' indictment for the first time.
Don't forget: Trump tweeted a photo on March 31, 2016 showing both him and now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions seated at a table with Papadopoulos during a campaign national security meeting. And in March he bragged to WashPost about Papadopoulos.
But, but, but: Steve Bannon has referred to Papadopoulos as a "nobody," and he wasn't familiar to other senior campaign aides.