Italy and the Trump Administration's effort to concoct evidence for a conspiracy theory

There's an Italian piece of the Republicans' attempt to create phony foreign-election-interference stories about the Democrats and their effort to discredit the Mueller Report. Remember Joseph Mifsud? His name comes up in it, too.

Jason Horowitz reports on part of it in Former Italian Prime Minister Says He’s Suing Trump Aide for Slander New York Times 10/04/2019.

Wolfgang Münchau's Eurointelligece 10/07/2019 speculates based on reporting by the Huffington Post's Lucia Annunziata about whether the Trump Administration may have in some way triggered the recent change in government in Italy, in which the Mussolini-quoting former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini and his Lega party were excluded from the previous coalition government. The non-partisan Giuseppe Conte remains as Prime Minister with the Five Star party as senior partner and the Social Democrats as junior coalition partner. (What did Conte know? 10/07/2019)

See also:

• Barbie Latza Nadeau, Barr Went to Rome to Hear a Secret Tape From Joseph Mifsud, the Professor Who Helped Ignite the Russia Probe Daily Beast 10/05/2019
• Mark Mazzetti et al, Barr and a Top Prosecutor Cast a Wide Net in Reviewing the Russia Inquiry New York Times 10/06/2019
• Adam Goldman, Italy’s Connection to the Russia Investigation, Explained New York Times 10/06/2019
• Alessandro Speciale, Italy's Spy Chief Met Twice With Barr to Aid Inquiry: Repubblica Bloomberg News 10/06/2019
• John Follain and Ross Larsen, Conte Approved Barr Meetings With Italian Intelligence: Corriere Bloomberg News 10/02/2019
• Fiorenza Sarzanini, Russiagate, gli 007 italiani hanno indagato per conto degli Stati Uniti Corriere Della Sera 08.10.2019

Mazzetti in his Times report describes a September visit by our dubious Attorney General William Barr to Italy:

Everything about Mr. Barr’s visit was unusual — not least his companion and their mission: John H. Durham, a top federal prosecutor whom Mr. Barr has assigned to review the origins of the Russia investigation. They were seeking evidence that might bolster a conspiracy theory long nurtured by President Trump: that some of America’s closest allies plotted with his “deep state” enemies in 2016 to try to prevent him from winning the presidency.

After the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, testified to lawmakers in July that he found insufficient evidence to charge any Trump associates with conspiring with Russia, an emboldened Mr. Trump began pressing world leaders to cooperate with Mr. Barr.

Now, glimpses of the review are emerging. Mr. Barr is taking an active role, signaling that he has made it a priority and is personally overseeing it.

The Eurointelligence report also notes:

What is unclear to us is Salvini's role in all of this. Salvini has also been accused of entertaining deep links with Russia and having secured Russian funding for his campaigns. At first blush, it is not clear why Trump and his men would dump him?

We think the timing is also very strange. At the time of the Barr/Durham visit, the Italian government crisis had already started. Five days later, on August 20, Conte launched an attack against Salvini in the Senate which triggered the end of the coalition. On August 24, Conte met Trump at the G7 in Biarritz, where they held a warm bilateral meeting. On August 27 Trump tweeted that he hoped Conte would remain premier.

The Italian Parliament in currently conducting an inquiry on Prime Minister Conte's dealings with Barr and Durham and about what kind of intelligence information he shared with them.