A Bulgarian investigative journalism site Bivol.bg released an interview with US journalist and intelligence expert Jeff Stein, who accuses Prime Minister Boyko Borisov of having a criminal past. Bivol.bg is the official Bulgarian partner of WikiLeaks. 

Stein wrote about Borisov’s past in a 2007 article for the Congressional Quarterly, in which he quotes a confidential dossier compiled by US law officials that describes Borisov as "a business partner and former associate of some of the biggest mobsters in Bulgaria," Stein explained in his article.

In an exclusive interview for Bivol.bg published Monday, Stein revisited these accusations. He explained that he had no interested in Borisov until he was presented with the dossier which was prepared for a Swiss Bank. He told Bivol that he talked to John McLaughlin, the former CIA deputy director, and “high-ranking Bulgarian official” about Borisov.

According to Bivol, a May 2006 cable approved by the US Embassy in Sofia stated that “Accusations in years past have linked Borisov to oil-siphoning scandals, illegal deals involving LUK oil and major traffic in methamphetamines. Information from SIMO tends to substantiate these allegations." SIMO has been disclosed as a codename for the CIA.

Stein also told Bivol that he faxed a copy of the Borisov dossier to a Bulgarian journalist, whose paper never printed or mentioned this information. He refused to identify the paper.

Borisov denied the accusations and claimed that the former Communist Party or Bulgarian Socialist Party paid for the “report” to discredit him – a claim Stein dismissed as rubbish.

Stein now works for the Washington Post's Sunday Magazine, as a SpyTalk columnist and blogger.

http://www.reportingproject.net/occrp/index.php/en/ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/1613-bulgaria-us-journalist-accuses-prime-minister-of-criminal-past