The recent autonomous investigation in the context of Operation Influencer was the subject of debate at SIC Notícias, with participants analyzing the severity of the presence of a PEN with sensitive data in the Prime Minister’s office.
A new process linked to Operation Influencer was opened. The Public Prosecution Service is investigating suspicions of violation of state secrecy, after being seized, during searches in São Bento, a pen with data from hundreds of spies and Portuguese inspectors. Prime Minister Antonio Costa says he is unaware of the existence of Pen.
António Rodrigues, former member of the SIS Inspection Council, asks how such a sensitive information ended up to the Prime Minister’s office. It states that, according to some versions, the ‘pen’ would have arrived anonymously, but stresses that, upon receiving it, the options should have been clear: either destroy it or deliver it to the competent authorities.
For lawyer Carlos Melo Alves, the main suspicion may be the violation of the state secrecy, as PEN contained the identification of several information services agents. It questions why the device was not immediately delivered to the police, pointing out that the investigation is now being conducted in an autonomous process, under the secret of justice.
SIC’s Martim Silva, the new investigation does not seem to be directly linked to the original case of Operation Influencer, which involved business such as lithium, hydrogen and ‘data centers’. In an analysis at SIC Notícias, it says that the fact that a device with detailed information about agents was so long in a cabinet is ” an unnamed gravity “.
SIC commentator Maria João Marques underlines the strangeness of a chief of staff to receive a pen with such sensitive data and, instead of directing her immediately, chooses to keep it. It also considers inexplicable that neither the new chief of staff nor António Costa were informed of his existence. Criticisms previously directed to prosecutor Lucília Gago for not having filed the case now seem to lose strength, as there was indeed a matter to investigate, he adds.
