The Prime Minister has just “categorically” denied in Parliament that his chief of staff Keith Schembri received unexplained payments of over $400,000 5 weeks after they secretly visited Ilham Aliyev in Baku in December 2014. The payments which I reported earlier today were made in January 2015.

Joseph Muscat was confronted in Parliament by Leader of the Opposition Adrian Delia who asked him to react to my report of today in the dying minutes of today’s question time. He said Keith Schembri had already denied the story — to whom? where? — and he joins him in his categorical denial. “These are the usual inventions,” the prime minister said.

One would have to ask the prime minister how he could be so sure of this. Has he audited Keith Schembri’s finances? Is he certain Keith Schembri has shared everything with him?

Is he prepared to stake his own job in joining Keith Schembri’s denial (which to my knowledge has not yet happened) that he — Keith Schembri — received over $400,000 in ‘new funds’ during January 2015?