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Italian weekly magazine @espressonline reporters @GiovanniTizian @StefanoVergine wrote about the October 18 meeting between Salvini’s aide & Russians back in February. They probably had the audio because they quoted from it but didn’t publish it. The news was largely ignored. 1/n 
At the time Salvini vehemently denied the allegations. Now #buzzfeednews @AlbertoNardelli published the audio and the media is finally talking about it. Unsurprisingly Salvini denied the allegations again and Savoini (the aide) said the audio is "a manipulated fake scam." 2/n
The opposition asked the Interior Minister to address the allegations in parliament. But Senate Speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati rejected 3 motions saying "the Senate is not a place to discuss journalistic rumors." 3/n
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Milan opened an investigation into an alleged int'l corruption scheme. I'm hearing its been ongoing since Feb after @espressonline's revelations. Either way, it means an Italian governing party is under investigation for potentially taking Russian 💰 4/n
You'd think all of this would be enough to escalate tensions within #Italy's coalition government, weaken the League's consensus, Salvini's popularity and potentially put the government in peril (remember the #Strache #Ibizagate?) but no. And this is the problem. 5/n
The 5⭐️ said in a Facebook post they only "act in the interest of italians" as opposed to foreign government and the allegations should "obviously NOT impact the government in any way." And if you take a look around social media you'll notice hundreds of dismissive comments 6/n
League and 5Stars supporters mainly argue Italy's Communist party (PCI) which is basically the @pdnetwork's grandfather took money from the Soviets for decades and that was ok. Others say Italy has much bigger problems: #Immigration, for example. 7/n
I totally agree with @LScazzieri who explains why voters wouldn't really care even if it were proven Salvini took Russian money 👉 8/n
But even if voters don't care it doesn't mean the issue isn't extremely relevant. It raises questions on Italy's place in the world. How can the U.S. be our main ally (as the League has repeated many times) if there are questions on the party's ties to Putin and Russia? 9/n
The 5⭐️'s relations with Russia aren't v clear either. They've now shifted positions and are in favor of the lifting of EU sanctions. MP Vito Petrocelli in June travelled to Moscow where he met Sergei Kislyak among others (#Russiagate anyone?) 👉 10/n
So where does this leave us? Multiple questions remain (&will remain) unanswered. Russian interference allegations would have rocked other countries to their core (again: remember the Austrian stunt). But not this one. And this says a lot about where Italy is at these days. 11/n
Finally, many colleagues in London & the U.S. have asked me if the govt will collapse over this. The answer is NO. The only issue that could cause the coalition to collapse is the so-called regional autonomy (a very domestic issue on which 5⭐️ & League are at loggerheads). 11/11
