Joseph Mifsud

Joseph Mifsud (born 1960) is a Maltese academic who served as president of the Euro-Mediterranean University of Slovenia (2008–2012) and director of the London Academy of Diplomacy (2013–2016). He worked at institutions across Europe with ties to both Western and Russian governments, including Link Campus University in Rome, which has trained NATO intelligence personnel. This information, relayed by Papadopoulos to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer, prompted the FBI to open the Crossfire Hurricane investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. while Papadopoulos and Republican lawmakers Devin Nunes and Jim Jordan suggested he may have been a Western intelligence operative.

Career From 1996 to 1998, Mifsud served as Chief Advisor to Malta's Ministry of Education. He was a key member of the team that negotiated Malta's entry into the European Union in 2004. During this period he represented Malta on the Bologna Follow-up Group, the Erasmus Mundus Committee, and other EU educational bodies.

From 2006 to 2008, Mifsud served as the chef de cabinet of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malta. He departed in 2012; a Slovenian government report later criticized his management for lack of transparency and noted he left owing the institution approximately €30,000 in expenses.

In September 2013, Mifsud became director of the London Academy of Diplomacy, which trained diplomats, corporate officials, and government personnel from approximately 69 countries. He simultaneously held an honorary professorship at the University of East Anglia from August 2013 to July 2016. The London Academy closed in 2016, and from May 2017 Mifsud served as a full-time professorial teaching fellow at Stirling until his resignation in November 2017. As of 2017, Mifsud was a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Roh, who has been associated with Russian oligarchs and who owns a 5% stake in Link Campus University, has been described by George Papadopoulos's wife as Mifsud's partner, best friend, and funder.

Connection to George Papadopoulos and Carter Page In March 2016, shortly after George Papadopoulos was named as a foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, Mifsud met Papadopoulos in Rome. They later met again in London, where – according to Papadopoulos – Mifsud claimed "substantial connections to Russian officials" and introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian woman that he falsely claimed was Putin's niece. At a meeting in April, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that he had learned that the Russian government had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton. Mifsud has acknowledged meeting Papadopoulos, but denied Papadopoulos's specific allegations. The FBI then launched an investigation into possible connections between Russia and the Trump campaign. Mifsud left the United States on 11 February 2017.

While the connection between Mifsud and Papadopoulos is well-established, Carter Page belatedly admitted to greeting Mifsud:

Disputed intelligence affiliations Mifsud's true role and intelligence affiliations remain unresolved. Former FBI Director James Comey characterized Mifsud as a "Russian agent." The Mueller Report stated Mifsud "had connections to Russia" and "maintained various Russian contacts," including a former employee of the Internet Research Agency. Mifsud denied these characterizations, stating "I am an academic, I do not even speak Russian." They pointed to his extensive ties to Western institutions: Link Campus University in Rome, where Papadopoulos first met him, has trained NATO intelligence personnel; Papadopoulos alleged Mifsud was "an Italian intelligence asset," while Mifsud's Swiss lawyer Stephan Roh claimed he was "a Western intelligence element." U.S. intelligence agencies told Inspector General Michael Horowitz that Mifsud was not among their assets. U.S. Attorney General William Barr and U.S. prosecutor John Durham met with Italian intelligence officials in Rome in late September 2019 to learn more about Mifsud and his contacts. Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte stated that Italian intelligence services were not involved with Mifsud. When Horowitz asked Durham whether he had found anything to contradict the assessment that Mifsud was not a Western asset, Durham said he had no such evidence. His passport and wallet were later found to have been left in Câmara de Lobos, Portugal, on 5 August 2017, although the Maltese government was not informed until October 2019.

Photographic evidence showed Mifsud in Switzerland on 21 May 2018, and he lived in Link Campus University housing until the summer of that year. In September 2018, an Italian court described his location as "residence unknown".

According to media reports, Mifsud was in Rome as of April 2019. In November 2019, Corriere della Sera received a recording of someone claiming to be Mifsud; voice recognition experts with the U.K.-based investigative journalism group Bellingcat said that, based on tone and pronunciation, the recording matched verified recordings of Mifsud.

Durham was unable to locate Mifsud during his multi-year investigation. In June 2023 congressional testimony, Durham stated he did not know whether Mifsud was "alive or dead". Mifsud does not appear in Durham's final 306-page report released in May 2023, despite the extensive efforts to investigate him.