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NEW: Flight records show that the close Matteo Salvini aide who negotiated a proposed oil deal to fund Salvini's Lega party made multiple trips to Moscow around the time of the meeting
buzzfeednews.com/article/albert…
buzzfeednews.com/article/albert…
An investigation by BuzzFeed News, Bellingcat and The Insider has established that Gianluca Savoini travelled to Russia at least 14 times in 2018
We can also reveal that a *current* member of Salvini's staff was booked on the safe flights as Savoini to/from Moscow on the days of the Metropol meeting
The joint investigation also found that Savoini's entries into Russia do not appear on a Russian interior ministry's database that logs all non-citizens arriving into Russia. This suggests that either he had a special status or the records have been wiped from the database
Savoini and D'Amico were on Salvini's delegation to Moscow last July (before D'Amico joined Salvini's staff) but Salvini's filing for that month shows no trips, costs or external delegates.
We asked Salvini whether the government covered their costs. He did not respond.
We asked Salvini whether the government covered their costs. He did not respond.
We also asked Salvini whether he knew that a member of staff was booked on the same flight as Savoini on the evening of the Metropol meeting. He did not respond.
We asked Salvini again whether he knew about the Metropol meeting. He did not respond.
We asked Salvini again whether he knew about the Metropol meeting. He did not respond.
