So, what does the Chamber of Advocates think now?

In June 2020 this website and The Shift News got a royal bashing from the Chamber of Advocates. It was over reporting and commentary on the two sites about Aron Mifsud Bonnici. The Chamber issued a statement of support for Mifsud Bonnici “condemning without reservation” the two websites and proceeding to advise what a “serious journalist” would have done, clearly concluding that there are no serious journalists at Truth Be Told and The Shift News.

This, at the time, was my response.

The gist, should you find it too early in the day to read one of my angry rants without getting an upset stomach, was that Aron Mifsud Bonnici is not just a lawyer. He is an integral part of the political machinations of the Joseph Muscat triad, particularly Konrad Mizzi. That, along with the public positions he was appointed to, completely justified public scrutiny of his conduct. Any “serious journalist” would have sought to understand what he was up to and denounce any unlawful or unethical activity he was part of.

As we say in Maltese, kulħadd baqa’ b’li ħa. The Chamber of Advocates spoke for one of its own, branding journalists who investigated his conduct as ‘not serious’ which, I guess is legalese, for incompetent.

There isn’t much you can do with that.

I wonder if given recent developments, the Chamber of Advocates has asked Aron Mifsud Bonnici to explain his bitcoin transactions with Yorgen Fenech which, local prosecutors believe, were used by Yorgen Fenech to attempt to purchase guns and ammo from the dark web. What was Aron Mifsud Bonnici paying for? Does the transaction appear on his books? Was the payment part of the fulfilment of his professional duties and if so, which client was he assisting at the time? On whose behalf was he paying?

There’s no suggestion that Aron Mifsud Bonnici knew the money he was paying would be used for the unlawful purchase of weapons let alone what they’d be used for.

There is suggestion however that no understanding of the criminal activities Yorgen Fenech and Joseph Muscat’s triad were involved in can be complete without an understanding of the role of Aron Mifsud Bonnici.

Any serious journalist would tell you that.