Professor Joseph Mifsud met Trump campaign adviser George Popodopolus in April 2016 and allegedly offered him 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton in the form of emails

Popodopolus is thought to have relayed that information to an Australia diplomat, who in turn informed Washington, sparking the Russia investigation

After the probe opened Mifsud asked for protection in Italy, fearing for his safety

As part of the application he gave taped testimony to the security services, which was listened to be Attorney General Barr and prosecutor John Durham

After listening to the tape, Barr decided to launch a full criminal probe

Attorney General William Barr decided to launch a criminal investigation into his own department after hearing taped testimony from a professor at the centre of the FBI's Russia investigation.

The 'breakthrough' came on Barr's second trip to Rome this summer, in which he and prosecutor John Durham are understood to have sat down and listened to a tape containing a deposition from academic Josef Mifsud.

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Mifsud is alleged to have offered Trump adviser George Papadopoulos 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton in the form of emails in April 2016. When word of the meeting reached Washington, it provided the basis for what became the Mueller investigation.

Barr is now investigating Mifsud as part of a counter-investigation into how the Mueller probe - which found no clear evidence of collusion between Trump and the Russian government - got started.

Durham and Barr reportedly heard a recording of Joseph Mifsud in Italy - the professor widely credited with sparking the counterintelligence probe into Trump campaign officials

Probe: Bill Barr, the attorney general, flew to Rome twice to meet spy chiefs there - to ask what the U.S. government's own agents were up to

Probe: John Durham, the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, flew to Rome twice to meet spy chiefs there - to ask what the U.S. government's own agents were up to

Mifsud went into hiding in 2017 and Italian justice ministry records show he applied for police protection around the same time, giving a taped deposition about why people might want to harm him.

It is thought that is the tape that Barr and Durham listened to when they visited Rome in September - their second journey to Italy after another visit in August.

While it is not clear what they heard on the tape, Fox News reported earlier this week that Durham's investigation 'expanded significantly' after the second Rome visit.

Two sources told the news site on Thursday that the administrative review has now become a full criminal investigation.

Papadopoulos - who was jailed in 2018 for lying to FBI investigators - has previously accused Mifsud of being planted by the intelligence services to cook up a pretext to investigate Trump.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte has acknowledged the existence of both meetings with Barr, saying that he was seeking information about the activities of FBI agents assigned to Italy.

Conte insisted on the complete legitimacy of both the meetings and his own role, after local media accused him of violating protocols in permitting the meetings.

Barr visited and called world leaders from around the world over the summer, collecting evidence into how the FBI's probe of Donald Trump's connections to Russia got started

Mifsud is believed to have offered Trump adviser George Papadopoulos 'dirt' on Hillary Clinton during a meeting in London. When word of the meeting got back to Washington, it is understood to have formed the basis of the Mueller probe

Conte said Barr's request arrived via normal diplomatic channels for 'a preliminary exchange of information with our intelligence aimed at verifying activities of American agents. This must be clear.'

Conte argued that Italian law gives the country's premier sole responsibility for responding to intelligence requests, and that he could not seek, for example, preliminary clearance from the parliamentary intelligence committee or legally discuss the request with any minister or political leader.

Conte also emphasized that the Americans showed no interest in the activities of Italian intelligence, and that the Italian intelligence services were 'completely extraneous to these events.'

Conte said that Barr first held a 'preliminary technical' meeting with intelligence officials in offices at Rome's Piazza Dante on Aug. 15. That was followed up with another meeting in the same offices on Sept. 27.

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'I hate to disappoint you but there were no meetings in bars or hotels,' Conte said, referring to media speculation. 'They were all held in institutional settings.'

Referring to domestic criticism that the meetings came at a moment when the previous Conte-led government was in crisis, Conte emphasized that the American request for the meetings was made in June - before Interior Minister Matteo Salvini sought to push Conte out of power - and that the request arrived by normal diplomatic channels.

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Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte sits before testifying behind closed doors to COPASIR (Italian parliamentary intelligence committee) about a meeting between United States Attorney General William Barr and Italian intelligence, in Rome, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. Media reports have indicated that Conte authorized the contacts -- one in August and one in September -- in violation of protocol. (Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP)

'The request dates from June, and came not from President Trump, but from (Attorney General) Barr,' Conte said. 'President Trump never spoke to me about this investigation.'

Conte also said he never had direct contact with Barr, either by phone or writing.

The Associated Press and other media have reported that Barr met with Italian government officials as part of an investigation into the origin of a probe into Russian election interference.

The September meeting also included the U.S. Attorney John Durham, who is examining what led the U.S. to open a counterintelligence investigation on the Trump campaign and the roles that various countries played in the U.S. probe.

Conte said he wouldn't change a thing about the way he handled Barr's request.

'If we had refused to sit at a table, we would have created damage for our intelligence activity, besides creating a serious breach of loyalty with an historic ally,' he said.

The disclosure came after a report which claimed that Durham's probe is zeroing in on two former top national security officials based on new information he discovered in Rome.

Sources familiar with the investigation spearheaded by Durham told Fox News on Tuesday that the Connecticut U.S. attorney is 'very interested' in questioning former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan, an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump who recently called the probe 'bizarre.'

Sources familiar with the investigation spearheaded by Durham told Fox News on Tuesday that the Connecticut attorney is 'very interested' in questioning former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (pictured) and former CIA Director John Brennan

Former CIA Director John Brennan (pictured), an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, recently called Durham's probe 'bizarre'

Durham has ramped up his review in the last week by increasing his staff and his time frame with approval from Barr, who launched the probe at the conclusion of the Russia investigation earlier this year.

The expansion came amid concerns over whether the probe has legal or factual basis, multiple sources familiar with the proceedings told NBC News.

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Brennan and Clapper, both Obama administration officials, were key players during the intelligence community's early assessment about potential Russian interference in the 2016 election.

They were both in office when the largely discredited Steele Dossier, which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele and alleged that Russia had damning information against Trump, was used to justify a secret warrant to surveil ex-Trump adviser Carter Page, one of the main targets in the Russia investigation.

If it is true that Durham wants to interview Brennan and Clapper, it would conveniently please the president, who was reported this week by Politico to be 'obsessed' with vengeance on Clapper especially.

Trump was reported to say 'he’s an idiot, he’s a crook, we ought to investigate him,' about Clapper.

However, Durham's probe appears to have challenges from elsewhere. Two insiders claimed that there is tension between the Justice Department and the CIA over what classified documents should be submitted to Durham.

Durham was initially appointed to review events leading up to the 2016 election and through Trump's inauguration in January 2017, but sources say his probe has been extended to include events through May 2017, when Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over the Russia investigation.

This week's developments came as Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz is preparing to release the findings of his own investigation into the origins of the Russia probe.

Barr appointed Durham to conduct the separate investigation because he said he believed the IG inquiry would not be sufficient as Horowitz' efforts were limited to current officials in the Justice Department.

Republicans are reportedly hopeful that the findings of both investigations will bolster Trump's efforts against a House impeachment inquiry sparked by the president's dealings in the Ukraine.

On Tuesday a House GOP source told Fox: 'If the rumors are true that IG Horowitz’s report and findings in Durham's review will blast the conduct of the FBI’s Russia investigation, it will give Trump a lot of ammo to support his argument that he was unjustly targeted then and is being unjustly targeted now.

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'It will justify Trump’s warnings about the Deep State acting to hobble his presidency.'