Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1287818
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 SEPTEMBER 2020 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE missing Maltese professor accused of alerting the Trump campaign to hacked emails con- taining "dirt" on Hillary Clinton, sent a string of denials about his Russian links to the FBI from his Stirling University email account. Mifsud, the mysterious profes- sor who ex-FBI Director James Comey referred to as a "Russian agent" in an op-ed, denied any advance knowledge that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton and told investigators he never made any offers to George Papadopou- los, the former Trump campaign strategist, according to newly re- leased FBI documents. The FBI released new docu- ments relating to its investiga- tion into Russian interference in the 2016 US election, which include minutes of an interview and emails from Joseph Mifsud. The documents show that the FBI first met Mifsud at a Wash- ington DC hotel, where Mifsud identified Papadopoulos from a photo, whom he met in Rome back in 2016 at a Link Campus University conference. Mifsud said he later met Pap- adopoulos, who was with Link Campus MBA student Olga Polenskaya, around September 2016, when the two had coffee in the UK together. "There were no other persons, including foreign officials pres- ent. Mifsud did not believe Po- lenskaya was related to Vladimir Putin or any other Russian gov- ernment officials… Mifsud de- scribed the meeting as happen- stance." The FBI said in their minutes that Mifsud had said he had no advance knowledge that Russia was in possession of emails from the Democratic National Com- mittee, and did not make any offers to Papadopoulos. "They spoke about cyber security and hacking as a larger issue. Papa- dopoulos must have misunder- stood their conversation." Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on the Russia investigation stated that Mifsud was the person who told Pap- adopoulos in April 2016 that Russians had "dirt" in the form of emails on Hillary Clinton that could damage her chances of be- coming president. Mifsud emerged as an improb- able central figure in Mueller's investigation in the 2016 US election, after former FBI direc- tor James Comey referred to him as a "Russian agent" – an allega- tion that Mifsud has denied. Twitter user Techno Fog post- ed the FBI's '302' interview sum- mary on Mifsud and pointed out that the 59-year-old professor told investigators he had "no advance knowledge Russia was in possession of emails from the Democratic National Commit- tee and, therefore, did not make any offers or proffer any infor- mation" to Papadopoulos. The Washington Examiner pointed out that Mifsud was never referred to as a Russian agent in the 448-page report and that the Mueller report only identified him as having connec- tions within Russia. Papadopoulos has said he be- lieved Mifsud was acting as a Western agent to spy. Reuters in 2019 pointed out that Mueller's report claimed Mifsud became more interested in Papadopoulos after he took a job as an adviser on the cam- paign. The report said that Mifsud, who has not been seen in public since 2017, told an Italian news- paper he never told Papadopou- los about the information on Clinton. Declassified Mifsud interview docs weaken FBI claim on 'Russian dirt' Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious professor who ex-FBI Director James Comey referred to as a "Russian agent" in an op-ed, denied any advance knowledge that Russia had dirt on Hillary Clinton