(see Volume I, Section III.B.1, supra). According to Papadopoulos, Mifsud at first seemed uninterested in 416 Papadopoulos when they met in Rome. After Papadopoulos informed Mifsud about his role in the Trump Campaign, however, Mifsud appeared to take greater 417 interest in Papadopoulos. The two discussed Mifsud’s European and Russian contacts and had a general discussion about Russia; Mifsud also offered to introduce Papadopoulos to European leaders and others with contacts to the 418 Russian government. Papadopoulos told the Office that Mifsud’s claim of substantial connections with Russian government officials interested Papadopoulos, who thought that such connections could increase his importance 419 as a policy advisor to the Trump Campaign. 420 On March 17, 2016, Papadopoulos returned to London. Four days later, candidate Trump publicly named him as a member of the foreign policy and national security advisory team chaired by Senator Jeff Sessions, describing 421 Papadopoulos as “an oil and energy consultant” and an “[e]xcellent guy.” 422 On March 24, 2016, Papadopoulos met with Mifsud in London. Mifsud was accompanied by a Russian female named Olga Polonskaya. Mifsud introduced Polonskaya as a former student of his who had connections to 423 Vladimir Putin. Papadopoulos understood at the time that Polonskaya may 424 have been Putin’s niece but later learned that this was not true. During the meeting, Polonskaya offered to help Papadopoulos establish contacts in Russia 425 and stated that the Russian ambassador in London was a friend of hers. Based on this interaction, Papadopoulos expected Mifsud and Polonskaya to 426 introduce him to the Russian ambassador in London, but that did not occur. Following his meeting with Mifsud, Papadopoulos sent an email to members of the Trump Campaign’s foreign policy advisory team. The subject line of the 427 message was “Meeting with Russian leadership--including Putin.” The message stated in pertinent part: I just finished a very productive lunch with a good friend of mine, Joseph Mifsud, the director of the London Academy of Diplomacy--who introduced me to both Putin’s niece and the Russian Ambassador in