Papadopoulos lawyer blasts Trump: President 'hindered this investigation' more than my client ever could

Lawyers for former Trump aide George Papadopoulos argued on Friday that their client should not face a stiff sentence because President Donald Trump isn't facing punishment for hindering the FBI investigation into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

Papadopoulos plead guilty to lying to agents about his contacts with Russians during the campaign “to minimize both his own role as a witness and the extent of the campaign’s knowledge of his contacts.”

Politico's Kyle Cheney reported that at Papadopoulos' sentencing hearing the defendant's lawyers argued that Trump himself “hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could” by starting a “fake news campaign” to smear the FBI's Russian probe as a “witch hunt.”

Papadopoulos is expected to be sentenced at the end of the day's hearings.