Randy Shipley (or factcheck dot org?): Flynn reached out to a man named Peter Smith who (apparently falsely) told a number of people that he was in contact with Russian agents.
From the Mueller Report:
"Just weeks after Trump's July 2016 request to find the Clinton emails, however , Smith tried to locate and obtain the emails himself. He created a company, raised tens of thousands of dollars, and recruited security experts and business associates. Smith made claims to others involved in the effort (and those from whom he sought funding) that he was in contact with hackers with "ties and affiliations to Russia" who had access to the emails , and that his efforts were coordinated with the Trump Campaign." -- Mueller Report
Keywords: himself, created company, recruited security experts and business associates...
He was working on his own. He was also telling those that he hired that he had access to others that could help in his endeavors. He wasn't acting in a capacity as a member of the Trump Campaign.
Yes, those were false claims, which is the only thing that you got right.
Also from the Mueller Report:
"The investigation did not find evidence that the Trump Campaign recovered any such Clinton emails, or that these contacts were part of a coordinated effort between Russia and the Trump Campaign." -- Mueller Report
Randy Shipley (or fact check dot org?): We learned that Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos attempted to arrange meetings between Trump and Putin, and that Trump personally approved Papadopoulos's work on this front.
From the Mueller Report:
George Papadopoulos was a foreign policy advisor to the Trump Campaign from March 2016 to early October 2016. In late April 2016, Papadopoulos was told by London-based professor "Joseph Mifsud, immediately after Mifsud's return from a trip to Moscow, that the Russian government had obtained "dirt" on candidate Clinton in the form of thousands of emails. One week later, on May 6, 2016, Papadopoulos suggested to a representative of a foreign government that the Trump Campaign through the anonymous release of information that would be damaging to candidate Clinton.
"Papadopoulos shared information about Russian "dirt" with people outside of the Campaign, and the Office investigated whether he also provided it to a Campaign official. Papadopoulos and the Campaign officials with who he interacted told the Office that they did not recall that Papadopoulos passed them the information. Throughout the relevant period of time and for several months thereafter, Papadopoulos worked with Mifsud and two Russian nationals to arrange a metting between the Campaign and the Russian government. That meeting never came "to pass." -- Mueller Report
The Mueller Report identified Joseph Mifsud as a Maltese national. Additionally from the Mueller Repot:
"According to Papadopoulos, Mifsud at first seemed uninterested in Papadopoulos when they met in Rome. After Papadopoulos informed Mifsud about his role in the Trump Campaign, however, Mifsud appeared to take greater 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 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 as a policy advisor to the Trump Campaign." -- Mueller Report
Papadopoulos traveled to Europe, after signing onto the Trump Campaign, not because of the campaign. He traveled there as a result of his employment requirement for his employer... Or while doing work on behalf of his client. What should've been his conducting business related to his employer ended up with him trying to grease the wheels for a position he was gunning for in the Trump campaign.
Papadopoulos was acting independently of the campaign. He was doing this on his private employer's/client's dime. Further down, you will read the following:
"When interviewed, Papadopoulos and the Campaign officials who interacted with him told the Office that they could not recall Papadopoulos's sharing the information that Russia had obtained "dirt" on candidate Clinton in the form of emails or that Russia could assist the Campaign through the anonymous release of information about Clinton. Papadopoulos stated that he could not clearly recall having told anyone on the Campaign and wavered about whether he accurately remembered an incident in which Clovis had been upset after hearing Papadopoulos tell Clovis that Papadopoulos thought "they have her emails." The Campaign officials who interacted or corresponded with Papadopoulos have similarly stated, with varying degrees of certainty, that he did not tell them." -Mueller Report
And...
"No documentary evidence, and nothing in the emails accounts or other communications facilities reviewed by the Office, shows that Papadopoulos shared this information with the Campaign." -- Mueller Report
The trend that you get from reading the report was that Papadopoulos was acting on his own behalf. He did so on the dime of his employer/client. He was building his connections to bolster his position post-presidential election. Or, setting things up to return to should he be released from the Trump campaign or administration.
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