A professor seems to be the latest mystery man to disappear in the saga surrounding Hillary Clinton. Has he gone the way of Seth Rich and others in Hillary’s past?

Professor Joseph Mifsud was one of the people identified as a connection between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. The problem is that he appears to have vanished into thin air.

Mifsud is linked to George Papadopoulos, the 30-year-old Trump campaign advisor who pled guilty several weeks ago regarding lies he told to federal agents. Papadopoulos was taken into custody shortly after Paul Manafort’s indictment.

Papadopoulis lied to federal agents about contacts he had with Russians tied to the Kremlin. Mifsud comes into the picture because he promised that he could get Russian sources to divulge “dirt” on Hillary Clinton. Last April, Mifsud said that the Russians were in possession of thousands of emails related to and involving Hillary Clinton.

Mifsud is a professor and lecturer at a private university in Rome. Last Thursday, he disappeared and hasn’t been heard of since then. No one has been able to reach him.

In the official court filings, Mifsud is referred to as Foreign Contact 1 or “the professor”. Apparently Mifsud exaggerated claims about his own connections. Apparently, Mifsud’s associates warned him he was going too far and advised him on “the danger of being played by the Russians.”

Despite their warnings, Mifsud persisted. Colleagues say he frequently bragged about Moscow being in possession of the Clinton emails. Yet Mifsud has gone on public record saying he never talked about “dirt” he or Russia had on Clinton.

It is common practice for Russian intelligence operatives to use people like Mifsud. They’re non-government people, and they play upon personalities like Mifsud’s and rope them into becoming an intermediary between the Russian government and other foreign bodies they’d like to make deals with. It is very common for Russians to use academics like Mifsud.

Mifsud indeed has a need to be on the world stage. He liked that he was in worldwide demand to be asked to global conferences.

U.S. intelligence officers confirm that Mifsud’s boasts correspond to the same timeline when Russia was reviewing emails stolen from the Clinton campaign.

Mifsud’s colleagues say that he was interviewed in February by the FBI, when he entered the United States for a business trip. The FBI had retraced Mifsud’s travels from Rome to London to Moscow.

As late as last week, the Italian newspaper La Republica interviewed Mifsud, and he referenced his American trip and his FBI interview in that interview. Also in that interview, Mifsud denied any involvement in the Clinton email saga.

Then he disappeared.

According to The Guardian, Mifsud was also a top government official in his native country of Malta. He helped Malta enter the European Union and spearheaded the London Academy of Diplomacy. Malta has officially made no response to inquiries about how closely tied Mifsud is to their country’s dealings. Surely, Malta does not want to be dragged into the American-Russian controversy.

The once vibrant London Academy of Diplomacy on Middlesex Street appears to have been shut down. The receptionist is there for multiple businesses at the location, and says that the Academy moved out six months ago. Phones don’t work and the websites are inactive.

The only university who does claim Mifsud is Link Campus University in Rome. That institution is led by former Italian interior minister Vincenzo Scotti. The university has a reputation for close ties with Italian intelligence services. Link Campus did officially go on record to say that Mifsud is “a person who collaborates with us.”

The court documents used in the Papadopoulos case show Mifsud as having “deep links inside the Kremlin”.

The notes say that Mifsud became very interested in talking with Papadopoulos once the professor realized he was part of the Trump campaign. The two initially met in Rome, then later in London, and that is where Mifsud is said to have introduced Papadopoulos to a Russian national.

The question that remains is whether Trump himself knew about all these exchanges. Mifsud bragged to Papadopoulos that the Kremlin was holding thousands of emails, but Papadopoulos never disclosed these meetings to US officials and that’s where Mueller nailed him.

Mifsud has been photographed in London with the Russian ambassador, despite telling multiple news outlets like the Italian La Republica and even The Washington Post that he had no Russian involvement.

So what’s the real story? The FBI would like to know more, but Mifsud is nowhere to be found.