Submitted by Elizabeth Vos of Disobedient Media
Disobedient Media previously reported our conversation with UK political analyst Chris Blackburn, whose research raises serious questions regarding the media’s portrayal of the Maltese ‘scholar,’ as a central pillar of the Trump-Russia collusion scandal. This article continues the conversation between this writer and Blackburn, focusing specifically on the media response and lack thereof to the information presented by Chris in our previous report.
Disobedient Media: You have pointed out that journalists have been aware of the connections between Mifsud and Claire Smith, Pittella and others. Do you care to comment on members of establishment media who know about the pertinent facts surrounding this issue but have remained silent?
Chris Blackburn: “When the George Papadopoulos story broke back in October, The Washington Post had already been in contact with Joseph Mifsud. They had received emails between the ‘professor’ and the former campaign advisor to Donald Trump. The Post was also the first media organization to name Mifsud publicly. I would be interesting to know who leaked the investigation before FBI Special Agent Robert Gibbs submitted the indictment against George Papadopoulos for lying to the FBI. Mueller’s team is often touted as being leak free.”
“In a rush, American and European journalists started digging into Joseph Mifsud. The reporting was excellent to begin with. As The Washington Post had an unfair month-long head start, they were the first to focus on Mifsud’s ties to Italy, ‘Mifsud helped to establish in Rome [Link Campus]with a senior Italian politician who had been implicated in a series of scandals. The university later withdrew its participation.’ But they failed to elaborate on the scandals or the fact they involved Italian intelligence services. Mifsud was certainly more than a humble academic.”
“The Guardian then picked it up, ‘Link Campus had a reputation for being closely connected to some elements within the Italian intelligence services.’ It was an understatement. Link Campus is intelligence central. It attracted foreign intelligence organizations. The CIA worked there.”
“While legacy press were frothing at the mouth over a new Watergate-style scandal. I was loosely collaborating with Jon Worth, A European blogger and Brian Whitaker, the former Middle East Editor at The Guardian. Worth was blogging about Joseph Mifsud and getting way a head of the mainstream media. He created charts to show Mifsud’s ties to politicians.”
“I found Mifsud’s link to Gianni Pittella and the Democratic National Committee on the 3rd November and tweeted it to a BBC journalist. Jon wrote ‘Gianni Pittella and his ‘caro amico’ Joseph Mifsud‘ on his blog a few days later. Journalists were interested in our loose alliance because we were churning out large amounts of linkages and stories that hadn’t been covered. But, the interest in Mifsud’s ties to European intelligence figures began to drop off rapidly.”
“Luke Harding of The Guardian wrote a profile on Simona Mangiante in January. She was connected to Gianni Pittella, George Papadopoulos, and Joseph Mifsud. He had wanted to examine the claim in Jon Worth’s blogs...