Earlier this month, BuzzFeed News interviewed Khalil in his Melbourne electorate office where he confirmed that he used to have secret, off-the-record meetings with US government officials in his role as a foreign affairs adviser to former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

But when we asked Khalil about briefing US officials in 2009, when he was no longer working for Rudd, things got a little weird.

Khalil told us that meeting with the US embassy was "a normal part of diplomatic work", but he refused to tell us who exactly he was working for in 2009.