Antonio Costa refuses to comment on the disclosure of auditions in the Influencer process

Former Prime Minister António Costa refused this Monday to comment on the disclosure of wiretapping in the Influencer process, saying that he was just waiting.

“I’m not going to talk about this topic. I’m not talking about this process, I’m just waiting,” António Costa told reporters in Leiria on the sidelines of a conference at which he was speaking as a speaker, “International Security – Economy and Society”, promoted by ADLEI – Association for the Development of the Leiria Region.

Asked whether he liked to see wiretaps played out in the media without any criminal evidence, the former Socialist prime minister said: “I think the answer is obvious, but despite that, as I have already announced, I will not comment on this.” process”.

The Public Ministry (MP) launched an investigation into the leak of information in the Influencer process after a transcript of wiretaps between former Prime Minister António Costa and then Infrastructure Minister João Galamba was made public.

According to information published by several news organizations, the lawmaker’s investigation is focused on wiretaps released Tuesday by CNN Portugal, including recordings of António Costa calling João Galamba to order the dismissal of TAP’s executive president for political reasons following a disputed compensation . 500 thousand euros to the former administrator Alexandra Reis.

António Costa resigned as prime minister in November 2023 after it emerged that he was the subject of an investigation opened in parliament by the Supreme Court after a certificate was extracted from the Operation Influential criminal case.

Operation Influential Man at the time led to the arrest of Vitor Escaria (Chief of Staff to António Costa), Diogo Lacerda Machado (consultant and friend of António Costa), Start Campus administrators Afonso Salema and Rui Oliveira Neves, as well as the President of the Chamber of Sines, Nuno Mascarenhas, who were released after judicial questioning.

There are other defendants, including former infrastructure minister João Galamba, former Portuguese Environment Agency president Nuno Lacasta, former PS representative João Thiago Silveira and Start Campus.

The case relates to a data center project in the industrial and logistics area of ​​Sines near the Start Campus, the production of energy from hydrogen in Sines and lithium exploration in the Vila Real area, in Montalegre and Botica.