An interview designed to calm the growing ‘cryptogate’ scandal backfired Monday, prompting criticism to rain down on President Javier Milei, his top advisor Santiago Caputo and journalist Jonatan Viale.
Milei granted an interview Monday evening to Viale, a government-friendly journalist, in a bid to explain his controversial social media post last Friday that promoted the ‘$LIBRA,’ which surged in value before crashing spectacularly.
Milei, who deleted his post as controversy swirled, has already accumulated more than 100 complaints of fraud domestically, with several more denunciations registered in courts overseas.
As domestic outrage grew over the scandal, the President and his team organised an interview with Viale to calm supporters and critics and put a stop to the controversy. But soon after the piece aired on the TN news channel on Monday night, an uncut version of the footage was leaked online, revealing that the conversation between the journalist and head of state had been interrupted and edited to aid the President.
Two clips, in particular, did the damage. In one, Viale mocked the idea that the government had pre-arranged questions to help Milei, joking that the so-called “iron triangle” or the head of state, his sister Karina Milei and presidential advisor Santiago Caputo, had cleared the questions in advance. Presidential Spokesperson Manuel Adorni was also mentioned.
However, a second clip actually confirms that the interview was interrupted by Caputo, who intervened with a warning that their conversation could “bring about a judicial headache” for Milei.
Pre-record
Since becoming president, Milei has only given pre-recorded interviews, with the Casa Rosada reviewing the material before publication. Live broadcasts are generally off the table.
The interview with Vilae was recorded last Monday afternoon at the Casa Rosada and afterwards transmitted by TN.
In one of the clips of the video, uploaded to the channel’s official Youtube account, it can be observed how the conversation has been manipulated. Just when Milei affirms that one of the cases against him will be handled by Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona, Caputo intervenes. A voice off-camera can be heard ordering the recording to be cut, thus triggering controversy when the unedited video leaked through to the social networks.
“Judicial stuff is not my thing, it would be imprudent to anticipate that. The person who possibly best understands this issue is Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona,” answered Milei previously, when asked about the case against him in the courtroom of federal judge María Romilda Servini de Cubría, for which he will surely need his own defence lawyer, not a state official.
Viale took up the point and Milei ended up insinuating that he would appeal to state machinery to free himself of this issue "between private individuals."
Adorni criticism
Adorni later questioned Caputo for having interrupted the head of state during the interview.
"There was nothing wrong in what he was saying but with Santiago Caputo the perfect is the enemy of the good," he said in dialogue with A24 television channel. "He’s not usually in the interview so perhaps he did not understand that the dynamics are not to cut for any old reason."
The spokesman minimised the impact of the episode, blaming social media for blowing up the controversy: "In the quest for perfectionism, a technical error was committed. When you see the three minutes of context, it’s simply a correction to avoid confusion with the Justice Ministry."
"The credibility of the President is beyond objection," underlined Adorni, justifying Milei’s role in the cryptocurrency scandal. “The President explained why he did it and in that case it will be up to the courts to investigate if there was anybody responsible or an undue beneficiary.”
Adorni is one of those under the spotlight following the launch of the memecoin. He has actively participated in key meetings linked to the project pushed by Hayden Davis and KIP Protocol in Argentina although the latter have disassociated themselves.
Despite his official role as government spokesman, his presence at meetings with businessmen from the cryptocurrency sector raises questions as to his true interest in this industry.
Adorni is a libertarian who defends the private sector and the cryptocurrency world. In parallel he has developed his political profile increasing his presence at international forums, accompanying Milei to conservative conferences like CPAC in Brazil and the United States. In the past he worked as a journalist.
– TIMES/PERFIL/NA
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