“I am not satisfied with such situations. I have no agendas, as it is sometimes said that the Public Prosecutor’s Office releases wiretaps or evidence… I have no agendas,” stated Amadeu Guerra, on the sidelines of an event at a school in Loures to mark International Anti-Corruption Day.
Complaining that his statements, including those made through press releases, are “often misinterpreted,” the PGR lamented that it is “common practice to criticize the attorney general and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.”
“I am not satisfied with this. Why? Because I do serious work. I became the attorney general because I thought I could still provide a good service to the country, just for that. It is not a career prize,” he stated.
On December 3, the magazine Sábado published an article reporting on the summary of transcriptions of wiretaps involving António Costa in Operation Influencer.
On the same day, the Office of the Attorney General clarified in a statement that not all inquiries in this case hold internal confidentiality, which allowed the defendants access to the files “multiple times,” and announced that the Public Prosecutor’s Office would file a “criminal report regarding the content” then published.
“Contrary to what I’ve heard, we do not blame others, we do not blame anyone. We take responsibility for our faults,” added Amadeu Guerra today, emphasizing that the criminal report aims to investigate “all individuals and verify if it is possible” to know “who provided the information” to the journalist who wrote the Sábado article with the wiretap summary.
On November 7, 2023, five individuals were detained and later released as part of Operation Influencer, including the then chief of staff of António Costa.
The case involves suspected crimes in the construction of a data center in Sines, Setúbal district, the exploration of lithium in Montalegre and Boticas, both in Vila Real district, and the production of hydrogen energy, also in Sines.
The case led to the fall of António Costa’s government (PS), with the current President of the European Council being considered a suspect, without being formally charged.
