JOSEPH MIFSUD HAS COME FORWARD. “ I want to breathe again”

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Audio tape he sent to Italian papers today. He spoke in English.

An Italian newspaper released an audio statement provided by someone claiming to be Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious Maltese professor whose contacts in 2016 with Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos were a central but unresolved aspect of the special counsel’s Russia probe.

In the seven-minute recording, published by the outlet Corriere della Sera, the person cryptically said it was “extremely important that somebody somewhere decides to let me breathe again.”

The man said he had limited public contact in the two years since the special counsel revealed links between Mifsud and Papadopoulos as part of the Trump aide’s plea deal with the government.

He also denied knowingly having contact with anyone in “secret service, intelligence service, or anybody of this sort.” The statement, if it is from Mifsud, would be a rebuttal of two competing theories about what the academic was up to during the 2016 campaign.

The FBI and special counsel’s office has asserted that Mifsud was a possible Russian agent sent to help the Trump campaign. Papadopoulos and some Trump allies have promoted a different theory: that Mifsud was working on behalf of Western intelligence agencies to set up the campaign by sharing information related to Russian hacks of Democrats’ emails.


The individual in the recording did not mention Papadopoulos by name, or specifically mention Russia. But he did seem to address speculation about the purpose of his meeting with Papadopoulos.

“It never was my intent to try to obtain any information to pass from one side to the other. I was never, never in possession to information that could be useful to one or the other. All I knew were people, people who came from think tanks,” the man said in the recording, which was sent to Corriere della Sera on Tuesday.

Mifsud’s associates have expressed mixed opinions about whether his is the voice in the recording. Stephan Roh, who has served as Mifsud’s lawyer in the past, told Italian news outlet Adnkronos the voice did not sound like his client. BuzzFeed News reported that Mifsud’s ex-girlfriend believed the man to be Mifsud. BuzzFeed also reported that Bellingcat compared known recordings of Mifsud’s voice and determined that he likely made the Nov. 11 statement.

It is not clear why the man, if it is Mifsud, is coming forward. But Attorney General William Barr has shown a renewed interest in finding out what role Mifsud played in 2016.

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