An emergency meeting took place at the Casa Rosada on Saturday as President Javier Milei’s government reacted to the leak of another damaging audio recording.
Cabinet officials and top advisers were summoned to Government House for talks on how to address the controversy, which erupted after a domestic streaming outlet released audio recordings that allegedly capture private conversations inside the Casa Rosada.
One of the clips features a voice attributed to Presidential Chief-of-Staff Karina Milei. In it, the President’s sister – who is at the centre of a developing corruption scandal – appeals for unity from government officials and says she is working long hours.
The situation has caused deep concern within the ruling party, which is seeking to contain the political fallout and prevent the leaks from escalating.
Rumours abide that further audio and video clips could be published in the following days. Casa Rosada sources privately acknowledge that the situation could worsen in the days ahead.
Government officials are angry at the leak and concerned that their conversations behind closed doors may no longer be private.
Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni branded the leak “an unprecedented scandal.”
If the audios are genuine, we are facing an unprecedented scandal. It would be the first time in Argentine history that an official has been recorded inside the Casa Rosada,” said Adorni in a post on social media.
“The release of these audios, just ten days before the Buenos Aires Province election, confirms that everything that has been happening is part of a staged and orchestrated disinformation campaign, with the clear aim of destabilising the government and maliciously influencing the electoral process,” he said, making a thinly veiled reference to existing corruption allegations.
The Milei government is already struggling to deal with a developing corruption scandal prompted by the release of damaging audio recordings believed to have been made by the former head of the ANDIS national disability agency, Diego Spagnuolo.
In them, Spagnuolo links Karina Milei and other top officials to corrupt practices at ANDIS in the procurement of medicine and other services.
Speaking to a radio station on Saturday, Cabinet Chief Guillermo Francos suggested the new leaks were the result of a “political operation” mounted by sectors of the opposition.
“If you ask me whether I rule out people in government being behind this, yes, I rule it out,” Francos told CNN radio.
He also criticised those who had spoken of an “internal operation” within the Executive, saying such accusations “make no sense.”
The Cabinet Chief admitted that if the audios did originate within the Casa Rosada, it would be a “serious” and “unprecedented” development.
He said an investigation will be handled by the courts and the intelligence services, noting that both officials and visitors could be responsible.
The audio recordings, published on Friday by Carnaval Stream, feature Karina Milei urging unity within the government. “We are not going to get into a fight, we have to stand united, just imagine,” she is heard saying.
In another excerpt, the Presidency’s secretary general describes her working day of over fifteen hours. “Because I go in at 8am and leave at 11pm from the Casa Rosada,” she says in the eight-second clip.
Unlike the Spagnuolo audios, Karina’s recordings make no mention of bribes or alleged irregularities at ANDIS. The official only appeals for cohesion within the ruling team.
Presenter Mauro Federico, who made them public, said these clips were just “the tip of the iceberg” and that more recordings could be released in the coming days.
He explained that the full audios could add up to 50 minutes of material from internal meetings in public offices.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
related news
