Explainer: The missing Maltese academic at the heart of Washington
intrigue
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[October 09, 2019]
By Giselda Vagnoni and Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) - In recent weeks, U.S.
Attorney General William Barr, with backing from President Donald Trump,
has stepped up an inquiry into the origins of an FBI investigation into
Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has complained his campaign was improperly targeted by U.S.
intelligence and law enforcement agencies to hamper his chances of
winning. An investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded
that Moscow interfered in the election to help Trump, but said there was
not enough evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy with Russia.
As part of his inquiry, Barr has asked Australian and British justice
officials for assistance and visited Italy twice, meeting intelligence
agents in Rome on Aug. 15 and Sept. 27 to learn more about people
mentioned in Mueller's report.
A central figure is Joseph Mifsud, a 59-year-old Maltese academic
involved in law and diplomacy education program in London and Rome, who
also had contacts with Russian officials and met with George
Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, on
several occasions.
Following are some key questions about Mifsud, an obscure professor who
has not been seen in public for nearly two years and who remains a focus
of attention in Washington.
WHY IS MIFSUD SO IMPORTANT?
The Mueller report describes a series of meetings between Mifsud, then a
professor at the now-defunct London Academy of Diplomacy, and
Papadopoulos in the spring of 2016.
They first met in mid-March at Link Campus, a private university in Rome
to which Mifsud was affiliated. Papadopoulos, then 28, was visiting Link
to meet officials as part of his role at the London Centre for
International Law Practice, a quasi-think-tank based in London that he
had recently joined and which Mifsud was also affiliated to.
Mueller's report says Mifsud, who was living in London at the time and
had established a number of Russian contacts, became more interested in
Papadopoulos after the American mentioned that he had been hired to join
the Trump campaign as an adviser specializing in energy policy.
Over the next month, Mifsud and Papadopoulos held a series of meetings
and had regular phone and email contact, with Mifsud offering to
introduce Papadopoulos to European leaders and officials with
connections in the Russian government.
The critical meeting came on April 26, the day after Mifsud had returned
to London following a 10-day visit to Moscow.
According to the Mueller report, Mifsud told Papadopoulos he had met
with high-level Russian government officials during his trip and learned
that the Russians had obtained "dirt" on Trump's election rival Hillary
Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails".
That would make him the original source of one of the key allegations
against the Trump campaign investigated by Mueller.
In a meeting with a Western diplomat 10 days later, Papadopoulos
suggested the Russian government could help the Trump campaign via the
anonymous release of information that would be damaging to Clinton, the
report says.
WHERE IS MIFSUD NOW?
Mifsud hasn't been seen in public since November 2017, when he was
spotted at Link Campus and spoke briefly to a reporter from Italy's la
Repubblica newspaper. In the interview he denied telling Papadopoulos
anything about Russian "dirt" on Clinton and dismissed his Russian
contacts as meaningless.
Another Italian newspaper, Il Foglio, reported in April that he was
holed up in an apartment in Rome - equidistant between the U.S. and the
Russian embassies - for seven months during 2017-2018, with the rent
paid by Link. But the contract expired in July or August last year and
he hasn't been seen since.
The same newspaper published a picture earlier this month of Mifsud
sitting in his former lawyer's office in Zurich, holding a copy of the
Zurichsee-Zeitung newspaper. Il Foglio said the photo was taken on May
21, 2018.
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President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General William Barr attend
the 38th Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service on Capitol
Hill in Washington, U.S., May 15, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File
Photo
The lawyer, Stephan Roh, told Reuters he had not had any contact
with Mifsud for a while, and said a London-based law firm was now
representing him. That firm declined to comment.
Former associates of Mifsud's said they had had no contact with him
since late 2017. His daughter is said to be still living in London,
while his ex-wife lives in Malta.
WAS HE WORKING FOR AN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY?
In an op-ed in the Washington Post in May, former FBI director James
Comey referred to Mifsud as a "Russian agent", although he did not
say why he believed that to be the case. Mueller's report does not
directly make the same allegation. For his part, Papadopoulos has
repeatedly suggested, without presenting any evidence, that Mifsud
was working for Western intelligence agencies in an effort to
tarnish Trump.
Gianni Pitella, a former member of the European Parliament and an
Italian senator for the center-left Democratic Party, attended the
same conference in Rome where Mifsud and Papadopoulos first met in
2016. He described Mifsud as sociable and well-connected, but not
someone you would expect to find at the heart of international
intrigue.
"Mifsud is a kind-mannered person with a vast culture. He is a great
storyteller, one who has relationships with academic authorities,"
he told Reuters. "My impression is that he was very good at weaving
together relationships, but had nothing to do with people involved
in espionage."
A senior Maltese official who worked with Mifsud earlier in his
career said he found Mifsud hard to believe, while another Maltese
associate described him as a "bluffer".
"I simply do not believe he had Russian contacts, especially at a
high level. He was personally a nice guy to talk to, I would even
say he was a good connector, but nothing high-level," the official
said. "He was also disorganized, he would start one thing, then move
to another before completing the first. I laugh when I read what is
said about him."
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Barr and his associate, veteran U.S. prosecutor John Durham, last
visited Rome on Sept. 27 and met Italian intelligence officials to
learn more about Mifsud and his connections, an intelligence source
told Reuters.
The source said it was possible Barr or Durham might return to Italy
to pursue inquiries further, suggesting the Mifsud trail is not
dead. The U.S. Justice Department has not confirmed the Italian
visits and has not said if Barr is planning a trip to Italy in the
future.
Barr has also contacted authorities in Britain and Australia to seek
assistance. Australia is relevant because the foreign diplomat
Papadopoulos met in London and told about the Russian "dirt" was
then-ambassador Alexander Downer.
"The Australian government will use its best endeavors to support
your efforts in this matter," the Australian ambassador to
Washington wrote to Barr on May 28, 2019.
"While Australia's former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom,
the Hon. Alexander Downer, is no longer employed by the government,
we stand ready to provide you with all relevant information to
support your inquiries."
British authorities have been more circumspect. A spokesman for the
government said: "Investigations in the United States are a matter
for U.S. authorities. We won't comment on the ongoing
investigations."
(Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball, Crispian Balmer and Luke
Baker; Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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