Revealed: Russia's middle-man who introduced Trump
campaign official to 'Putin's niece' and offered dirt on Hillary is
London-based European Union expert who trains diplomats
- Josepf Mifsud, a London-based former Maltese diplomat, has been identified as Russia's conduit to the Trump campaign
- He
helped introduce Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos to an
individual connected to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April
2016
- The professor reportedly told
Papadopoulos that 'They [the Russians] have dirt on [Clinton]'; and
'they have thousands of emails.'
- Mifsud runs the London Acamdey of Diplomacy and is an expert in European Union diplomacy
- He has ties to the University of East Anglia, near London, and the University of Stirling, in central Scotland
- Russian
he introduced Papadopolous to was Ivan Timofeev, a program director at
the Kremlin-backed Russian International Affairs Council
Published:
18:29 EDT, 30 October 2017
|
Updated:
10:22 EDT, 31 October 2017
The
anonymous 'professor' who allegedly tried to facilitate a meeting
between the Trump campaign and Russian officials has been identified as
Joseph Mifsud, a 'diplomacy' expert from Malta who runs a training
center for prospective ambassadors in
London.
Federal prosecutors say the professor – who was not named in court documents but was identified as Mifsud by the
Washington Post on Monday – had high-level ties in
Russia
and helped introduce Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos to an
individual connected to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April
2016.
That Russian official was
identified in reports on Monday as Ivan Timofeev, a program director at
the Kremlin-backed Russian International Affairs Council.
According
to prosecutors, the professor also passed on information to
Papadopoulos about 'dirt' the Russians had uncovered on Clinton,
including 'thousands of emails' they collected.
+6
Meet the professor: Jospeh
Mifsud (right) runs the London Academy of Diplomacy and helped
introduced George Papadopolous, the Trump campaign aide, to a Russian
official. He has other ties to Moscow: In July he was phtoographed with a
Russian diplomat based at its London embassy, Ernest Chernukhin
+6
Official: Ivan Timofeev was
introduced to the campaign aide by Mifsud who is called 'the professor'
in prosecution documents. Another woman who Papadopolous thought was
Vladimir Putin's niece was also introduced to him. She was not Vladimir
Putin's niece
+6
In London: George Papadopoulos
posted a photo outside department store Harrods during a trip to the UK.
He has now pleaded guilty October 5 to lying to the FBI's Russia
collusion probe
+6
Not my niece: Vladimir Putin was not the uncle of the woman who Papadopolous corresponded with and lied to the FBI about
Prosecutors
say Papadopoulos also tried to use the professor's Russian connections
to set up a meeting between then-candidate Donald Trump and Vladimir
Putin in the spring of 2016.
But the
ill-fated attempt at diplomacy never got off the ground – and it has now
resulted in federal charges against Papadopoulos, after authorities say
he lied to investigators working for special counsel Robert Mueller.
Papadopoulos
pleaded guilty to making false statements to federal investigators
earlier this month. Details about his case and separate indictments
against former Trump campaign officials Paul Manafort and Richard Gates
were first unsealed on Monday.
Prosecutors
said Papadopoulos misled investigators who were probing possible
collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials in January,
downplaying his efforts to arrange meetings with Russian officials.
According
to prosecutors, Papadopoulos reached out to Mifsud after getting tapped
as a foreign policy advisor for the Trump campaign in early March 2016,
because he was under the impression Mifsud had close ties to the
Russian government.
Mifsud, a
'diplomacy' expert who specializes in energy policy issues, worked for
the Malta ministry of foreign affairs and the education ministry in the
1990s.
He was recently listed as director
at the London Centre of International Law Practice, but his biography
page on the website was removed without explanation two days ago.
The
biography described Mifsud as 'the founding father of the term
'Academic Diplomacy',' and said his research is focused on the European
Union 'especially accession and enlargement.'
Mifsud
currently serves as honorary director of the London Academy of
Diplomacy, a diplomatic training institute associated with the
University of East Anglia, outside London, and the University of
Stirling, in central Scotland.
He has
described the academy as 'one of the best diplomatic academies in the
world' and says it teaches students 'how to be flexible in thinking, how
to engage with the business community and how to act at different
levels, from the highest level of diplomacy to more mundane
people-to-people skills, as well as the ability to think strategically
and geopolitically.'
Mifsud has also
spoken about the importance of diplomatic 'branding' in the age of
Twitter and the importance of establishing connections between
ambassadors and businessmen. In a 2014 interview with the Washington
Diplomat he said his role model is Henry Kissinger, who he called 'a
fantastic diplomat.'
Video playing bottom right...
+6
Inner circle: Trump praised
Papadopolous as an 'excellent guy' and he was part of a meeting about
'national security' at the same time as he was corresponding with the
Russians
+6
What happened: Papadopolous was
offered 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton by Mifsud at a meeting in London, but
he couldn't interest his superiors in meeting Russian officials
themselves or paving the way for a Putin-Trump summit, possibly also in
London
On March 24, 2016,
Papadopoulos met with the professor in London to discuss setting up a
meeting between Trump and Putin. The professor reportedly brought along a
woman who Papadopoulos believed was Vladimir Putin's niece.
In
the weeks that followed, Papadopoulos, the Russian woman, and the
professor allegedly exchanged emails about arranging meetings with
officials in Russia.
'As mentioned we
are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr.
Trump. The Russian Federation would love to welcome him once his
candidature would be officially announced,' wrote the Russian woman in
one email to Papadopoulos.
Mifsud also
reportedly introduced Papadopoulos over email to Ivan Timofeev, program
director of the Russian International Affairs Council, a think tank in
Moscow.
The Russian International
Affairs Council was established by the Russian government in 2010 and is
funded by the ministry of foreign affairs.
Mifsud and Timofeev have a working relationship dating back at least several years.
In
2014, Timofeev met with Mifsud in London to discuss a collaboration
between the Russian International Affairs Council and the London Academy
of Diplomacy, where Mifsud served as honorary director.
Both Timofeev and Mifsud also spoke at the Russian government-sponsored Valdai Discussion Club on April 18, 2016.
That same day, Mifsud reportedly introduced Timofeev and Papdopoulos by email.
The
Trump advisor and the MFA-linked Timofeev went on to have 'multiple
conversations over Skype and email' about arranging meetings between the
campaign and Russian officials, according to prosecutors.
As
the discussions continued, Papadopoulos pressed other Trump campaign
officials to consider the proposed meeting between Trump and Putin.
He
told one senior campaign official by email that he wanted to 'to
discuss Russia's interest in hosting Mr. Trump. Have been receiving a
lot of calls over the last month about Putin wanting to host him and the
team when the time is right.'
Around
the same time, Mifsud allegedly passed on a tip to Papadopoulos about
the Russian government tampering in the presidential election.
During
a breakfast meeting on April 26, 2016, the professor reportedly told
Papadopoulos that 'They [the Russians] have dirt on [Clinton]'; and
'they have thousands of emails.'
But Papadopoulos's diplomatic efforts seemed to draw little interest from others in the Trump campaign.
Campaign director Corey Lewandowski simply ignored Papadopoulos's messages when he received them in early May.
Lewandowski's
successor, Paul Manafort, seemed more open to the idea but nixed the
possibility of Trump attending a meeting with Russians.
'We
need someone to communicate that [Trump] is not doing these trips,'
Manafort wrote to another Trump aide in May. 'It should be someone low
level in the campaign so as not to send any signal.'
On
June 19, Papadopoulos tried again to get campaign approval for a
meeting with Russian officials, offering to attend it himself if Trump
couldn't make it.
'The Russian ministry
of foreign affairs messaged and said that if Mr. Trump is unable to
make it to Russia, if a campaign rep (me or someone else) can make it
for meetings?' wrote Papadopoulos to another Trump campaign official on
June 19.
'I am willing to make the trip off the record if it's in the interest of Mr. Trump and the campaign to meet specific people.'
The
meeting did not occur, and Papadopoulos's exchanges with his Russian
connections appeared to stop at the same point, according to
prosecutors.
