Scholar Stefan Halper, one of the more mysterious figures in the Trump-Russia affair, has bowed out of making his first public appearance since the news media exposed him as an FBI spy.
Mr. Halper was slated to appear July 20 at a conference — Cambridge University’s International Security and Intelligence Program (ISI).
The hosting group, the Cambridge Security Initiative, announced on its website: “news update — due to ill health, Professor Halper is unable to attend the ISI conference this year.”
While at Cambridge in 2016, Mr. Halper initiated contact with Trump campaign volunteer Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign adviser. He offered Papadopoulos $3,000 to write a report on energy policy.
He also introduced him to a flirtatious office associate who engaged Papadopoulos in talk about Russian computer hacking.
In 2018, the Daily Caller reported on Mr. Halper’s suspicious interest in Papadopoulos. News reports later identified Mr. Halper as an FBI informant assigned to assess the Trump adviser.
The New York Times identified the female associate also as an FBI informant.
Mr. Halper has disappeared from public view since the press coverage.
The Cambridge Security Initiative is headed by Richard Dearlove, former chief of Great Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, known as MI6.
Mr. Halper was to have been a final speaker on July 20 along with Mr. Dearlove and other academics.
Papadopoulos wasn’t charged in a Russian conspiracy, but he admitted to lying to the FBI.
• Rowan Scarborough can be reached at rscarborough@washingtontimes.com.
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