title:  Drunk Bragging Trump Staffer Started Russian Collusion Investigation
text: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes is going to have a bad day. He s been under the assumption, like many of us, that the Christopher Steele-dossier was what prompted the Russia investigation so he s been lashing out at the Department of Justice and the FBI in order to protect Trump. As it happens, the dossier is not what started the investigation, according to documents obtained by the New York Times.Former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos was drunk in a wine bar when he revealed knowledge of Russian opposition research on Hillary Clinton.On top of that, Papadopoulos wasn t just a covfefe boy for Trump, as his administration has alleged. He had a much larger role, but none so damning as being a drunken fool in a wine bar. Coffee boys  don t help to arrange a New York meeting between Trump and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt two months before the election. It was known before that the former aide set up meetings with world leaders for Trump, but team Trump ran with him being merely a coffee boy.In May 2016, Papadopoulos revealed to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer that Russian officials were shopping around possible dirt on then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear,  the report states.  But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians  role. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. and is now a cooperating witness with Special Counsel Robert Mueller s team.This isn t a presidency. It s a badly scripted reality TV show.Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images.