The professor who The Washington Post identified as one of George Papadopoulos' key links to Russian officials told The Daily Beast on Monday he does not know anyone from the Russian government and called reports he was Papadopolous' source "a laughing matter."
Papadopolous, Donald Trump's former foreign policy adviser during the presidential campaign, pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to lying to federal agents about his contacts with people with connections to the Russian government.
The Washington Post reported the professor was "likely" Joseph Misfud, the director of the London Academy of Diplomacy at the University of Stirling, and the FBI affidavit unsealed Monday stated Papadopoulos acknowledged the "professor had told him about the Russians possessing dirt on then-candidate Hillary Clinton in the form of thousands of emails."
The affidavit only refers to the professor as "Foreign Contact 1" who was listed as "an associate of several Russian nationals."
The professor reportedly put Papadopoulos in touch with a Russian foreign ministry official and an unnamed woman whom he incorrectly believed was Russian President Vladimir Putin's niece.
Misfud told The Daily Beast he is not the professor.
"I do not know anybody from the Russian government, let's put it this way," Misfud said. "I am an academic."
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