In one of the most evocative squares of Rome, amidst the ruins of the Eternal City, there is the prestigious residence of Domenico Arcuri. An apartment worthy of the important roles that the sixty-two-year-old former Covid commissioner has held in his successful career as a public manager. On June 18th a source of Truth was sipping an aperitif right underneath the elegant building. At 7.54pm he saw the owner of the house return and immediately recognized him.
Almost for fun he sent a message to a friend to inform him of the sighting. From here the arrival time remained marked on the cell phone. But after about half an hour, the witness had a vision that made that chance encounter news. Well, around 8.30pm, the former prime minister entered the door at a brisk pace Giuseppe Conte.
A coincidence? Or did the president of the M5s go to discuss with his old collaborator? And of what?
The background on the Covid Commission and the crux of the hearings
What is certain is that controversy has been brewing for days over the former prime minister’s failure to hear Covid Commission.
The president reconstructs the reason with The Truth Marco Lisei: «A member of a commission of inquiry, such as Conte, cannot be audited. But he says he is available to answer and, for this reason, over a year ago I proposed that he resign, be audited and then return to the commission. A few days ago the presidents of the House and Senate also made it clear that it is a viable path. But, faced with this proposal of mine, he responded negatively. It seems to me that he doesn’t have the will to answer the commissioners’ questions.”
Yesterday, in an interview with La Repubblica, Conte gave his version: “I have been willing to be interviewed for years.” And he accused Palazzo Chigi of having given the order to the Fdi commissioners to discredit his person: “There is a dirty game underway that I can no longer allow.”
The heart of the problem is the multimillion-dollar commissions behind the 1.25 billion euro contract and 800 million Chinese masks revealed by this newspaper in November 2020. A story that we have been dissecting for more than five years and which, years later, has also started to interest other newspapers, although at a judicial and investigative level there is no real news compared to what we have already reported. Conte rejected for the umpteenth time the suspicions that have been chasing him since our first scoop, with these words: “I have never dealt with contracts for the purchase of masks and respirators, nor which companies or professionals were involved.”
Faced with the interviewer’s incredulity (“How is it possible that you weren’t in charge of supplies?”), the former prime minister didn’t make a plea: “But sorry, let’s go back to those months, with Italy on its knees and the reorganization of an entire country to manage, in your opinion is it conceivable that a prime minister could think about mask contracts?”.
Unfortunately, prosecutors and judges have not found anyone guilty for that enormous waste of public money and Conte has an easy time pointing out that “these are events which, from a judicial point of view, have all resulted in nothing”. And for this reason it is better to return to our history and to the beautiful square in the heart of Rome.
The political clash over the rules of testimony
On June 17, at 8:30 in the morning, something happens in the commission.
During the meeting of the Bureau, called to discuss new delegations, the topic, dear to the Democratic Party, of a second hearing for Arcuri came up. A proposal that the Dems have been insisting on since the beginning of the year.
President Lisei, despite not knowing what Arcuri had that was so important to report, having already been listened to for several hours, however, recalled that the former commissioner would no longer be heard in a free hearing, but, as has been done for months, “as a witness”, that is, like all witnesses in criminal trials, who are absolutely forbidden to lie, under penalty of criminal prosecution for perjury.
At that point the five-star deputy would have intervened Alfonso Coluccithe only representative of the opposition present that day: «No, Arcuri cannot be heard as a witness given the role he held», he reportedly declared.
The news immediately goes viral and La Verità, on 18 June, headlines: «The 5 Star Movement claims that Arcuri can lie about Covid».
The same evening Arcuri and Conte meet at the former’s house. The following day, the former Covid commissioner sends President Lisei a letter in which he explains that he is ready to tell his whole truth, under the conditions of the commission: «Having learned from some press outlets the contents of discussions that would be held within the Bureau of the Commission that you chair and which would concern a future hearing of mine, I consider it necessary to communicate to you with this letter of mine that there is no problem on the part of the undersigned nor any impediment to being heard in the form of the witness hearing, as moreover required by current legislation” we read in the letter.
Which continues as follows: «I also take this opportunity to reiterate to you, as I have already done with the Commission’s offices, my hope to be heard, I repeat in whatever form you deem appropriate, with the exclusive aim of giving the members of the Commission an authentic and overall contribution regarding the actual development of the events that have characterized such a dramatic season for our country, such as that of the pandemic, providing them with the most adequate evidentiary material».
Manager’s truths and secret cards ready for use
Was the letter agreed with Conte the previous evening? Both deny. The former prime minister first explains the nature of his relationship with the manager: «Since Arcuri was attacked, despite having emerged unscathed from the judicial investigations, I offered him my solidarity, appreciating the commitment with which he served the country. The mud campaign against him is absolutely unworthy.” And the dinner on June 18th? The staff of the president of the Movement is clear: «Arcuri and Conte never spoke about any letters that Arcuri would have sent to the Commission in the following days».
The former CEO of Invitaliafrom his Tuscan retreat, is much less concise: «Given what I read from other newspapers, I miss you. Do your work with depth, then of course, everyone has their own ideas, but you do it with a level of informative professionalism that I can’t find elsewhere.”
For this reason he agrees to explain the connection with Giuseppi, the dinner on June 18th and what he could reveal in his possible next hearing.
The first answer is about frequenting: «When Conte became Prime Minister, I had never seen him in my life. We collaborated on issues related to the South due to my role as CEO of Invitalia. When he asked me to be the commissioner I accepted and we established, as with all the actors of that season, a familiar relationship. Call it what you want. After that, given the sad events that struck me, let’s say that this relationship of custom and collaboration has transformed into a relationship of friendship.”
We ask him if the trait d’union could have been Massimo D’Alemaon good terms with both, and Arcuri replies: «No, the relationship between me and Conte was demonstrably born on the innovative policies for the development of Southern Italy that the Conte 1 government launched with Invitalia as the protagonist. I have no problem telling you that I happen to see Conte during this period too, while I haven’t met D’Alema for many years.” And how often do you meet with Giuseppi? The former commissioner remains vague: “We happen to see each other, but it’s not like we have fixed or recurring appointments.”
Then the discussion moves on to the letter sent to the Commission: «I have been asking to be heard for a year and a half. I was only interviewed for the matter Jc electronics (a company which according to the Court of Rome would have been unjustly excluded from the supply of masks, ed.) and, on that occasion, I was limited, I couldn’t talk about the emergency”. Arcuri doesn’t hold back: «The opposition has been asking in vain for a year and a half for me to be called. I was put on their list of people to be audited to no avail. Afterwards I read that in a bureau it was said that I should be heard in full hearing and that for some media this meant that they wanted me to go and tell lies. So I took pen and paper and said: “I come in the shape you want”». Arcuri insists on the fact that he is ready to bring “adequate evidentiary material” to the commission.
The former CEO of Invitalia denies that the letter is to be connected to the meeting with Conte: “Imagine if we talked about the letter, that was an automatism of mine, triggered after I was indignant in the morning at the headlines of the newspapers… with everything that has happened to me, in your opinion, do I have problems in going to witness testimony?”.
At this point he promises us an exclusive, but only after the audition and announces that he is ready to show us unpublished documents: «Let’s do an open interview in which you ask me what you want. I would also like to give you some papers, because they are now public, except that not everyone has access. My problem, again because I am a stupid lover of institutions, is that I would like to understand if these gentlemen will audit me, because if they don’t, I will feel free to come to you and say what I want, given that I asked to do so in the commission, without succeeding”.
We explain to him that it is difficult for us to believe that, after the articles of 18 June, he and Conte did not discuss the letter, but Arcuri is adamant: «That was not the theme of the evening. With him we talk about everything and nothing like people who have shared a bad season, and we only know how bad, and who feel unjustly persecuted.”
