Woman described as 'Putin's niece' at center of Trump campaign-Russia communications identified

Federal investigators have named the Russian woman who was initially described as “Putin’s niece” in emails between Donald Trump’s campaign adviser George Papadopoulos and officials in the Russian government.

As Politico reports, Olga Vinogradova is the name of the “very good-looking” model who was introduced to Papadopoulos in 2016, and may have been a Russian “cut out,” or someone the Kremlin used to infiltrate the Trump campaign.

In an email to Trump campaign officials, Papadaooulos said Vinogradova offered “to arrange a meeting between us and the Russian leadership to discuss U.S.-Russia ties under President Trump.”

“As mentioned we are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr. Trump,” Vinogradova said in an email to the Trump campaign staffer. “The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his candidature would be officially announced.”

Papadapoulos was arrested on July 27, the day after the FBI raided the home of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. According to a plea agreement for Papadapoulos, he has been working as an active participant in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe since his arrest. The White House has tried to distance Papadapoulos from Trump, insisting last week that his participation in the campaign was “extremely limited.”