Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/895147
maltatoday WEDNESDAY 1 NOVEMBER 2017 News 4 KURT SANSONE IT was over breakfast in a London hotel that a Maltese professor told a campaign aide to then US presidential hopeful Don- ald Trump of Russian "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. The meeting between London-based academic Joseph Mifsud and ex Trump ad- viser George Papadopoulos took place on 26 April 2016, before allegations of possible Russian interference in the US presidential election had started doing the rounds. Mifsud seemed privy to information the Russians had on Clinton and went on to tell Papadopoulos they had "thousands of email" with "dirt" on the Democratic Party candidate. The details emerged from court docu- ments filed in the US by the FBI against Papadopoulos. Although Mifsud's name does not appear in the documents, the detailed information on the meetings and exchanges between "the professor" and Papadopoulos has its finger pointed in his direction. It was the Washington Post that joined the dots and named Mifsud but the aca- demic later admitted with The Telegraph that the person who is referred to as "the professor" throughout the court docu- ments was indeed him. Mifsud is honorary director of the Lon- don Academy of Diplomacy and a teaching fellow at the University of Stirling, which he joined earlier this year. Until Monday night he was listed as a member of the London Centre of Interna- tional Law Practice, however, his biogra- phy was removed overnight. The academic had also served as a direc- tor of the University of Malta's internation- al office and was personal assistant to then foreign minister Michael Frendo before 2008. Mifsud had also appeared in a press con- ference with then Opposition leader Joseph Muscat before the 2013 election over a ter- tiary education project he proposed. The court documents paint a picture of a professor who had good contacts with the Russian government. With The Telegraph, Mifsud insisted he had "a clear conscience" and said he knew nothing about emails containing "dirt" on Clinton. According to the court documents, Mifsud and Papadopoulos had met for the first time in Italy on 14 March 2016 and the Maltese academic took an interest when he got to know of the American's involvement with the Trump campaign team. In a second meeting in London on 24 March, Mifsud introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian woman, who had good links with the Russian foreign office. Mifsud de- nies the claim, insisting he only introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian think-tank. In an email to the Trump campaign su- pervisor after this meeting, Papadopoulos had described Mifsud as a "good friend". The court documents then list various email exchanges between Papadopoulos, Mifsud and the Russian woman showing how the American was keen on arrang- ing a meeting between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Trump. Around 18 April, Mifsud introduced Pa- padopoulos over email to an individual in Moscow with connections to the Russian foreign ministry. However, it was on 26 April, during the breakfast meeting that Mifsud allegedly lifted the lid on the Rus- sian "dirt". Mifsud had just returned from a trip to Moscow where he allegedly met with high- level Russian government officials. The documents report Mifsud hav- ing told Papadopoulos "the Russians had emails of Clinton" and "they have thou- sands of emails". The revelations on the Maltese link came as the FBI charged three former Trump aides, including Papadopoulos – who has agreed to cooperate with the investigation after first lying to federal agents – as part of an investigation into possible Russian in- terference in the 2016 presidential election campaign. Maltese professor led Trump adviser to Russian 'dirt' on Clinton Joseph Mifsud YANNICK PACE SINCE May 2014, local authori- ties have seized up to 34kg-worth of drugs from vessels crossing the channel between Malta and Sicily. According to statistics tabled in parliament by Home Affairs min- ister Michael Farrugia, of the to- tal amount seized included, 10.5 kilos of cannabis, both resin and grass, 9.2 kilos of cocaine, 12 kilos of heroin, and a single ecstasy pill. Criminal proceedings were brought against 26 people in relation to the 18 police raids, leading to the dis- covery of the drugs. In only two of the 18 cases were drugs found in the possession of a Maltese national. Moreover, in three cases the total amount of cannabis seized by the police totalled less than 15g, and on a fourth occasion, only one ecstasy tablet was seized. Police seize 34 kilos of drugs from vessels crossing Sicily- Malta channel since 2014