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发帖数: 3433 | 1 LONDON — An academic at a Scottish university confirmed Tuesday he is the
“professor” mentioned in the probe over suspected Russian interference in
U.S. politics but claimed the allegations are exaggerated.
According to court papers unsealed Monday, George Papadopoulos, a former
foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, told federal investigators
that a professor in April 2016 promised him “dirt” on Hillary Clinton
compiled by Russians, including thousands of emails.
Joseph Mifsud, who joined the faculty of the University of Stirling earlier
this year, was not named in the court documents. He confirmed his identity
to the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday, stressing that “I have a clear
conscience.”
Emails previously described to The Washington Post appeared to suggest the
identity of the professor was Mifsud, a native of Malta.
The University of Stirling said in an emailed statement that Mifsud joined
its politics department in May 2017 as a “full-time professorial teaching
fellow.”
Mifsud told the Telegraph that he knew nothing about emails containing “
dirt” on Clinton, calling the allegations upsetting and “incredible.” He
also dismissed the disclosure that he introduced Papadopoulos to a “female
Russian national,” calling the allegation a “laughingstock.”
Papadoulous pleaded guilty this month to lying to federal agents about his
outreach to Russia. The disclosures in the court papers describe
Papadopoulos making contact with several senior Trump campaign officials
about his apparent outreach to the Russian government over a period of
months.
Mifsud told the Telegraph that he introduced Papadopoulos to the director of
a Russian think tank to help him better grasp Russian foreign policy and
that he tried to set up meetings with experts on the European Union.
“We are academics,” Mifsud told the paper. “We work closely with
everybody.”
He said that he met Papadopoulos in Italy in March 2016 and then 10 days
later in London.
In emails with The Washington Post in August, Mifsud said that he had “
absolutely no contact” with the Russian government. “I am an academic, I
do not even speak Russian,” he wrote.
He said that Papadopoulos “was introduced to me in a visit to a project in
Rome by the London Centre of International Law Practice in which we
discussed track two diplomacy with a number of countries including the
Russian Federation. The only link that was offered vis-à-vis Russia was
with RIAC,” or the Russian International Affairs Council, a Russian think
tank.
According to a biography on the London Centre of International Law Practice
’s website, which was deleted Sunday, Mifsud “served prominently” in
Malta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and worked as an adviser for Malta’s
Ministry of Education.
In tweets Tuesday, President Trump tried to discredit Papadopoulos and
downplay indictments unsealed Monday against former Trump campaign chairman
Paul Manafort and his longtime business partner Rick Gates.
The 12-count indictment, which includes tax and money-laundering charges,
stemmed from the probe by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into
possible interactions between the Trump campaign and Russia.
“Few people knew the young, low level volunteer named George, who has
already proven to be a liar,” Trump wrote in apparent reference to
Papadopoulos. Trump did not elaborate on the “liar” accusation.
But in an August 2016 interview with the Post editorial board, Trump
described Papadopoulos as a member of his advisory team and an “excellent
guy.”
Further details about Mifsud’s purported Russian connections over the years
were outlined by his former assistant at the London Academy of Diplomacy,
Natalia Kutepova-Jamom, who helped set up some initial meetings with Russian
academics and others.
Mifsud suggested that he used the early contacts to open doors for higher-
level meetings.
Kutepova-Jamom told The Post that Mifsud contacted her late last year to
brag about having a “short private meeting” with Russian President
Vladimir Putin. But Kutepova-Jamom said she didn’t believe the two met
because Mifsud is “a too ‘small time’ person” to meet with the Russian
leader.
She said that she booked her former boss a speaking slot in 2014 at the
Sochi meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club to speak on “economic and
international cooperation.” It was there, she said, that the professor met
the team from the RIAC, including its program director, Ivan Timofeev.
Mifsud’s goal was to build a list of Russian contacts and policy-shapers,
Jamom said. Among those Mifsud met were leading Russian academics and Evgeny
Baganov of the Moscow Academy of Diplomacy, said Kutepova-Jamom.
“After my basic contacts I provided him such as Ivan [Timofeev], he
succeeded in gaining new ones,” she said.
Nabil Ayad, who hired Mifsud as an honorary director at the London Academy
of Diplomacy — where Ayad was founder and director — said Mifsud’s
expertise was broadly in the area of diplomacy.
“As assistant to the Maltese foreign minister, he traveled to many
countries and met many heads of state,” said Ayad, who is now director of
the Academy of Diplomacy and International Governance at Loughborough
University in London.
“He’s a professional person. He’s very helpful. As far as I know, he has
no favor to any country except Malta,” Ayad added. “I know him very well.
He’s helpful with students. He’s a professional person.”
Ayad said the London-based Academy’s work involved occasional trips to
Moscow, including for collaboration with the Diplomatic Academy of the
Russian Foreign Ministry.
“We tend to deal with governments, so I don’t think he has any special
connections or relationships,” Ayad speculated. “If a meeting took place
between a Russian official or he introduced someone, it must have been by
chance, not by design.”
Online biographies present Mifsud as an authority in the field of
international relations and diplomacy across Europe, the United States,
Russia, Africa and the Mediterranean region, but his academic work in these
areas appears limited. He has published in peer-reviewed journals on Maltese
education policies. |
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