Details emerge of man named as Trump go-between with Russia
THE LITTLE-KNOWN professor suspected of being a link between Russia and the Donald Trump campaign made repeated visits to Russia in recent years, including participating in conferences at a Russian think-tank favoured by President Vladimir Putin.
Joseph Mifsud has been identified as the unnamed Londonbased professor who offered to set up meetings with Russian officials who could provide “thousands of emails” with damaging information about Mr Trump’s rival presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
He is a vocal Putin backer with ties to several important institutions in Russia. Mr Mifsud has visited Russia at least once a year since 2014, most recently in September, online postings show.
He has taken part at the Valdai Discussion Club favoured by the Russian leader and lectured at Moscow State University.
In the US court document laying out the case against former Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, Mr Mifsud is not identified by name and is referred to only as a “London professor”.
He is said to have met repeatedly with Papadopoulos and offered to set up meetings with Russian officials who could provide dirt on Clinton.
A comparison of court papers and Papadopoulos’ email correspondence obtained by The Associated Press confirm Mr Mifsud is the professor. Mr Mifsud, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, himself told the
newspaper he is the “London professor” in the case and says his conscience is clear.
Papadopoulos, 30, has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He is not contesting the facts laid out in court documents, calling them “true and accurate”, and is now cooperating with the FBI – and has been doing so for several months.
Mr Mifsud, a Maltese native, holds a professorial teaching position in the politics department at the University of Stirling in Scotland. However, he is not named on the university’s own list of experts.