A key player at the very beginning of the Obama administration's counterintelligence operation on the Trump campaign "is missing and may be deceased," according to Bloomberg, citing a late Friday court filing by Democratic National Committee (DNC) lawyers in their case against Russia over hacking during the 2016 election.

Maltese professor Joseph Mifsud - who bragged last November that he was a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and the Clinton Foundation, told Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos on April 26, 2016 that Russia had "dirt" on Hillary Clinton weeks before Papadopoulos would drunkenly repeat the same rumor to Australian diplomat Alexander Downer on May 10.

Downer's subsequent report to "five eyes" authorities resulted in the launch of Operation Crossfire Hurricane - the FBI/DOJ's counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign. Recall that former FBI agent Peter Strzok flew to London to meet with Downer in the summer of 2016.

Mifsud has been missing since October, 2017 - while Papadopoulos was just sentenced to a grand two week stint in prison for lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Maltese professor.

The DNC stood by its claim in a statement to The Hill on Friday. The committee indicated that an investigator had been used to find Mifsud, who has been missing for months, and was told the Maltese professor may be dead. “The DNC's counsel has attempted to serve Mifsud for months and has been unable to locate or contact him. In addition, public reports have said he has disappeared and hasn't been seen for months," DNC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. -The Hill

Meanwhile, a close associate of Mifsud, Gianni Pittella, has been described by EU parliament as a "reliable ally" to George Soros.

However, according to internal documents from George Soros Open Society Foundation leaked in 2016, Pittella is considered to be a close ally of George Soros. The 127-page document by the Open Society European Policy Institute, titled “Reliable allies in the European Parliament (2014 – 2019),” lists the names of 226 EU MEPs that are likely to support the Open Society Foundation and its many initiatives. Included among the names of 226 MEPs is that of Gianni Pittella. -Disobedient Media

Mifsud was also the link between Papadopoulos and his wife of six months, attorney Simona Mangiante - bolstering theories by some that he purposefully seeded the Russia-Clinton "dirt" rumor in order to lure the Trump campaign into a trap.

1. Fiction is truly anemic compared to the rich tapestry of the bizarre that we are privy to in daily life: consider this:

Simona Mangiante first connected with Papadopoulos on LinkedIn after Papadopoulos noticed they shared a mutual connection. — Rising serpent (@rising_serpent) June 6, 2018

Expanding this Twitter thread by user @rising_serpent, we find:

2. That connection was Joseph Mifsud, a most mysterious former Maltese government official who ran an institute called the London Centre of International Law Practice in Britain. THE Joseph Mifsud now made infamous by her husbands indictment by Robert Muller.

3. Mangiante, started working at the organization after meeting Mifsud while she was employed at European Parliament in Brussels. Papadopoulos, who had worked for Mifsud’s organization as well, reached out to say he liked her profile picture.

(article: George Papadopoulos, his bride-to-be, and the Russia-linked ‘professor’ who brought them together)

4. Mangiante left the London Centre of International law after three months, after concluding the law office was “a facade for something else.” But the two continued to talk over the Internet, before meeting in person for the first time in New York in spring 2017.

5. Mangiante was introduced to Mifsud in 2012 by Gianni Pittella, a well-known Italian MEP who in 2014 became president of the Socialists and Progressive Democrats group. “I always saw Mifsud with Pittella,” So, Mangiante knew Mifsud for many years before she did Papadopoulos

6. Mangiante worked for 2 European parliament officials, Mairead McGuinness, a vice-president & McGuinness’s Italian predecessor Roberta Angelilli. She was also admin to home affairs committee under Martin Schulz, then a German MEP & now leader of Germany’s Social Democrats

7. So Mangiante moved within the corridors of power within Europe's Italian Democrats & German social democrats. When her contract expired, Pittella suggested she go work for Mifsud in London who offered her a job in 2016 at the London Centre of International Law Practice

8. in September 2016, Mangiante received a message on the LinkedIn social network from George Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos had worked at the same London Center of International law centre briefly before joining Trump’s campaign. That was the beginning of their acquaintance.

9. It appears that Mangiante started her job around September 2016, the same time as she started corresponding with Papadopoulos. Mangiante was not happy with her work in London.

(article: The boss, the boyfriend and the FBI: the Italian woman in the eye of the Trump-Russia inquiry)

10. The entire institution seemed “fake”, “artificial”, with Mifsud interested solely in organising political meetings. “I didn’t smell a culture of academia" Mifsud’s diplomatic activity, Mangiante now believes, was a facade. “I never met any Russians there”

11. Mangiante quit her post there after three months, in November 2016. In the meantime, Mangiante’s romance with George began. After several unsuccessful efforts to get together in London, they met in March 2017 in New York. They hit it off, began dating and fell in love

12. Prior to meeting Mangiante, FBI had interviewed Papadopoulos Jan 2017 in connection with the collusion investigation. Papadopoulos gave federal agents a false account of his meetings with Mifsud. So he deleted his Facebook account and changed his cellphone number.

13. So almost 3 months prior to Papadopoulos actually meeting Mangiante he was already in the crosshairs of FBI, he was deleting facebook, changing phone numbers and like James Bond, was actively romancing a beautiful woman. Plausibility check # 1, what do you think ?

14. On the day Papadopoulos pleaded guilty, Mangiante was at her boyfriend’s family home in Chicago. There was a ring at the door. A casually dressed man informed her that he was a federal agent. He was serving her with a subpoena from Mueller.

15. Mangiante decided not to hire a lawyer after discovering they cost $800 an hour. She turned up alone at Chicago FBI headquarters. the FBI was interested in her relationship with Papadopoulos. Was it genuine? “They asked: “Do you love him?” “Yes”. They replied: ‘He is lucky’”

16. Plausibility check # 2. Do you think about how much lawyers cost when the FBI tells you that your boyfriend is chin deep in legal manure and you may be too? Stormy Daniels gets a lawyer for free, but someone being investigated by the FBI thinks about a lawyers cost?

17. March 2016 Papadopoulous learned he would be Trumps foreign policy advisors, he ended up meeting Mifusud on March 14 2016 while he was traveling in Italy (where Mangiante was, coincidentally). Important: He met Mifsud first in Italy, see indictment (click here)

18. Mifusd's interest is piqued when he learned that Papadopoulos was going to be involved with the Trump campaign. They meet again subsequently in London on March 24th 2016 when Mifusd was accompanied by the "Putins niece" Olga Vinogradova, who like Mifsud has now disappeared.

19. Papadopoulos met Mifusd again on April 24th 2016 for breakfast at a London hotel. This is the first time that Mifsud tells him he knows the Russians have "dirt" on Hillary. Mind you the DNC leaks weren't published till June/July 2016. Important point right there.

20. That DNC was hacked by the Russians remains a matter of great contention and those with exquisite expertise in cybersecurity don't agree with the assertion that Russians hacked it. Remember the only people that conducted the investigation into the hack were CrowdStrike

21. Now we turn the bizarre dial to 11, why did Papadopoulos say to Mangiante when he was looking at her LinkedIn profile that they worked for the same company? Two things wrong with this: I couldn't find any evidence that Paps worked for the London center of international law

22. and if he did, he would have known Mifsud from his work, so the whole theory of his being introduced to Mifusd falls flat.

23. The BIG question: by the time Papadopoulos began corresponding with Mangiante in Sept 2016, he was a part of the Trump Campaign, what was he looking at LinkedIn profiles of people working at the London center of international law for? What am I missing here?

24. I have more questions than answers, but the timeline just doesn't add up, there is a lot missing here apart from my functioning neuronal circuitry. All of this is important in the context of Mangiante's recent media blitz and her asking for Trump to pardon Papadopoulos.

25. Feel free to add to what I have just outlined. Things are not only a little askew here but seems that we are seeing this whole matter askance and many facts are obscured by layers of hearsay disguised as factual information. -fin.

26. Addendum: anybody else find it most peculiar that Mangiante worked for Italian and German social democrats? Especially now that we know that MI6 (Downer/Steele/Halper) were probably involved with the genesis of the Steele dossier?

27. Mifusud appears to be more aligned with the UK than he is with the Russians, Mangiante herself said so. Also she has since dialed down her touting of her husbands role in the Trump campaign, why?

Fascinating...