Russia scandal man denies talking of ‘dirt’
JOSEPH MIFSUD, the mysterious professor at the heart of the Trump-russia scandal, can today be heard talking about his involvement for the first time in Crossfire, a new podcast from The Daily Telegraph.
Prof Mifsud, whose alleged remark triggered the investigation into ties between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Kremlin before the 2016 election, disputes the central claim and denies links to the Russia government.
Asked whether he told a Trump campaign adviser that the Russians had “dirt” on Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, as US officials have claimed, Mr Mifsud is heard saying “absolutely this is not true”.
The professor also pushes back on the suggestion he has Russian connections, noting he does not own a visa that would allow him to travel freely across the border.
The remarks were made in Oct 2017 to a Telegraph reporter and are being released today as part of Crossfire, a new six-part podcast series, which investigates the UK angles to the scandal.
Prof Mifsud has gone to ground and has never been heard before talking about the meetings in London that kick-started the probe.
The Russian meddling investigation was launched by the FBI before the 2016 election. It was eventually taken over by special counsel Robert Mueller and hung over the Trump presidency for almost two years.
Mr Mueller concluded Russia had systematically interfered in the election, trying to help Mr Trump and hinder Mrs Clinton, but said there was no criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin.
Mr Mueller also concluded that Prof Mifsud did make the “dirt” comment to George Papadopoulos, a young Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, in a London hotel on April 26 2016 before the release of hacked emails which roiled Mrs Clinton’s campaign.