Dem lawmaker admits there is no evidence Russians ever provided 'dirt' on Clinton to Trump campaign

What happened?

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) admitted on Sunday to CNN host Jake Tapper that there has not been any evidence to suggest President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia by receiving damaging information on failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of emails.

"In April, [former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos] met with a professor who promised 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton from the Russians — have you seen any evidence that this 'dirt,' that these emails were ever given to the Trump campaign?" Tapper asked Feinstein.

"Not so far," Feinstein replied.

"Have you seen any communications that suggested that the Trump campaign wanted them to release them through a different means, because obviously they were ultimately released by WikiLeaks?" Tapper pressed.

"No, I have not," Feinstein admitted.

Feinstein is the top ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee and also serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has held a multitude of closed-door hearings into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 presidential election.

Who is George Papadopoulos and why is he important to the ongoing investigation?

An unsealed court filing showed last week that Papadopoulos, who served on the Trump campaign's foreign policy advisory panel, was arrested in July and subsequently pleaded guilty to making false statements to the FBI about an email he received from a professor with strong ties to the Russian government who claimed he had "dirt" on Clinton. According to court records, the professor said the damaging information on Clinton involved "thousands of emails." Papadopoulos has since been a cooperating witness in special prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation.