Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Friday said he plans to sue President Donald Trump’s ex-campaign aide George Papadopoulos over allegations that Renzi attempted to undermine Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Papadopoulos, in an interview earlier on Friday with Italian publication La Verita, claimed that Renzi was ordered by former President Barack Obama to “strike a low blow” against Trump during the 2016 election.
Papadopoulos last year pleaded guilty to making a false statement in connection with former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling. He was sentenced to 14 days behind bars.
He quickly shot back at the former prime minister’s remarks, saying on Twitter: “My response to the failed former Italian Prime Minister who is threatening to sue me: good luck.” He added, “in the meantime, cooperate with the investigations into the direction you took Italy in 2016, which is now under investigation for attempting to interfere in the 2016 election.”
“I believe your hands should be full with John Durham and AG Barr,” he wrote in a follow-up tweet, a reference to the Connecticut U.S. attorney tasked with probing the origins of the counterintelligence investigation into the 2016 presidential election and Attorney General William Barr, who contacted Italian officials about the election probe.
Via POLITICO
