“We don’t hate journalists enough,” he often repeats. His usual discursive attacks against the press and media have now gone up a notch: the Executive withdrew from Congress the proposal to appoint as a federal judge a lawyer with extensive experience in the courts due to her relationship with a journalist who has investigated corruption cases involving the Government. The decision, promoted by , not only aroused widespread repudiation among political leaders and judicial organizations, but also opened a new crack within the ruling party. Patricia Bullrich, head of the far-right bench in the Senate, invoked her “right to conscientious objection” and publicized her rejection of the withdrawal of the document. This Tuesday, a prosecutor requested that the incident be investigated by justice as alleged discrimination.
This year, the Milei Government is promoting judicial restructuring and the appointment of some 80 new judges, prosecutors and defenders. In this context, it sent the specifications of its candidates to the Senate, among them that of the candidate for judge María Verónica Michelli, current secretary of the Federal Oral Court 1 of La Plata and with 32 years of experience in the judicial system. Michelli is the sister-in-law of the journalist, columnist for EL PAIS and author in the newspaper The Nation of numerous sensitive investigations for Milei, such as those related to the cryptocurrency scam $Libra or the assets of the Chief of Staff, Manuel Adorni.
Everything indicates that it was after the document was presented that the president and his powerful sister learned of the relationship between the candidate and the journalist. For this “error”, the Casa Rosada blames the Ministry of Justice, headed by former prosecutor Juan Bautista Mahiques for three months. In an unusual measure, the Executive withdrew Michelli’s document from the Senate.
The decision was harshly questioned by opposition political leaders. Experts in law and legislative procedure warned that it should be ignored by the senators, given that the document was already being processed. The Buenos Aires bar associations expressed “great concern” about the measure and considered it “unfounded.” They also recalled that Michelli’s document “met all the requirements established by the magistrate selection process and was approved.” Among other similar expressions, the group Sera Justicia disapproved of “the inappropriate conduct of the Executive Branch” and considered it “a direct attack on freedom of the press and expression.”
This Tuesday, federal prosecutor Guillermo Marijuan admitted a complaint filed by lawyers from the Reset Republicano group and requested to open a criminal investigation to determine whether the Executive Branch committed an act of discrimination by eliminating Micheli’s nomination. Among other measures, the prosecutor asked that the Senate report the formal status of the document.
For the moment, the main problem for the Government arose from its own ranks. Patricia Bullrich, who chairs the Senate bench of La Libertad Avanza (LLA), Milei’s party, made public this Monday her disagreement with the measure against the candidate for judge. “I spoke with the president and informed him that I am going to exercise my right to conscientious objection regarding the withdrawal of Dr. Michelli’s nomination to be a federal judge,” the former Minister of Security wrote on her social networks. Although he stressed that he supports “with conviction the historical transformation that President Javier Milei is promoting,” his definition once again made explicit the internal tensions suffered by the Ultra Government. According to versions known this Tuesday, Bullrich would have offered Milei his resignation as head of the LLA block, but the president would have rejected it.
The senator had already distanced herself from the line drawn by the Executive just four weeks ago. While Milei publicly supported and defended his coordinating minister against allegations of corruption, Bullrich demanded that he be investigated by the justice system. With a long history in Argentine politics, with a past in Peronism and the PRO – the party of former President Mauricio Macri – Senator Bullrich has gained weight and autonomy within the Milei Administration. His figure is well positioned for the 2027 national elections and today it is not clear whether, if he runs, he will compete within or outside LLA. In fact, according to the latest surveys, Bullrich has a greater positive image and less negative image than the president.
