Salvini, Capuano, Russia, Italian espionage and American interests
Francis Walsingham's note
Is there or is there not a document attesting to contacts between Matteo Salvini's adviser for international relations, Antonio Capuano , former member of the Forza Italia parliamentary, and Oleg Kostyukov, "an important official of the Russian embassy" in Italy?
It is not a strange question given that the diplomat, among other things, would have asked Capuano "if the ministers of the League were willing to resign from the government", according to the revelations of the newspaper La Stampa in an article signed on 28 July. by Jacopo Iacoboni according to which, in essence, there are suspicions of Russian interference to bring down the Draghi government.
The article in the newspaper La Stampa cites "intelligence documents": it is claimed that, between 27 and 28 May, there were contacts between Matteo Salvini's adviser for international relations, Antonio Capuano , former member of the Forza Italia parliamentary. and Oleg Kostyukov, "an important official of the Russian embassy" in Italy.
The document, however, does not find confirmation at the top of the Italian services. "The indiscretions that appeared in the newspaper La Stampa , regarding the attribution to national intelligence of alleged interlocutions between the lawyer Capuano and representatives of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Italy, to bring down the Draghi government, are devoid of any foundation as already reported to Copasir, on the occasion of similar articles that appeared in recent months ”, immediately after the publication of the article, undersecretary to the Prime Minister, Franco Gabrielli, authority delegated to national security and to the Services, announced .
The information revealed by the Press and attributed to the Italian intelligence would also have been communicated "to the competent institutional levels", has put in writing – after Gabrielli's version – the management of La Stampa which takes stock of the revelations relating to alleged contacts between the League and Russian diplomacy and the alleged pressure from Moscow on the League's ministers to bring down the government. The newspaper directed by Massimo Giannini "confirms that the documents viewed by our newspaper are an informal synthesis of the intelligence work on the matter".
But is there therefore a document or an informal summary?
The day after the release of the piece from La Stampa the newspaper Domani commented : “On 10 June La Verità publishes an article on the affairs of Capuano. Again, the information appears to come from sources who have heard the talks directly. In the final lines, exactly the news published yesterday by the press is reported ”.
Not only that: the newspaper Domani – in the article by Emiliano Fittipaldi and Giovanni Tizian – adds: "The old news from the Truth returns to the front page of the Press , and takes on a much more relevant flavor: not only because in the meantime the government has really fallen at the hands of the League, but because an intelligence document is quoted that would contain precise quotes from those talks. In the piece he never speaks of wiretapping by counterintelligence, but several witnesses explain to Domani that the content of the phone calls between Capuano and Kostyukov would come precisely from the "preventives" ordered months before by Aisi ". In short, there was an "espionage of our services".
The Undersecretary with responsibility for the Services says in a bureaucratic but clear way: it was not us who provided news to the press. We can discuss us, but the substantial truthfulness of the facts told by @jacopo_iacoboni is not discussed, which in fact are not denied.
– Armaro I'm (@Armarosono) July 29, 2022
In fact, Gabrielli's denial is denied by the revelations (not denied) of the daily Domani , which asks: “How many unpublished interceptions of Capuano still have our services and / or other subjects of foreign apparatuses in their hands?”.
American apparatuses, to be precise.
In fact, the newspaper La Stampa writes: “In the scene of this reckless operation, the Americans notice the movements and try to mark them”.
An analyst who follows these events in depth comments with Start Magazine : "The wiretapping is from Aisi but the American apparatuses also have an interest in getting them out".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/salvini-capuano-la-russia-lo-spionaggio-italiano-e-gli-interessi-americani/ on Mon, 01 Aug 2022 04:48:45 +0000.