Only last week did Manuel Adorni breathe a little easier. He cannot confess it, but the new round between Karina Milei and Santiago Caputo and the rebellion of Patricia Bullrich with the ruling of Judge Verónica Michelli brought him a little peace of mind. At least, they allowed him to escape the suffocation to which he was subjected due to his financial sloppiness that Justice is investigating.
While he continues to refine his sworn statement, the Chief of Staff no longer doubts that he will continue in office. Such is the serenity that he manages, that he appeared again at the house of the countryman Indio Cua, one of the properties subject to the investigation for illicit enrichment. Try to get back into the routine. And he believes that the worst is over.
Of blood.
The Milei’s trusted official is not the only complicated Adorni. His brother Francisco, a provincial deputy, is being investigated by prosecutor Guillermo Marijuán for illicit enrichment and money laundering, in a case parallel to that of the Chief of Staff.
In recent weeks, Francisco had to rectify his sworn statement. He modified data on the tax value of his house and on a mortgage loan. But what caught the most attention is that he added an item that had not been contemplated in the original version: 21 million pesos of an inheritance, he says as the only detail. Small oversight.
The Adorni’s history of heritage rarities is not new and comes from blood. It was discovered after the movements that were recently made in the succession of the father of the political leaders, who died in 2002. Jorge Adorni had incurred a debt with two women to buy a house. Manuel and Francisco’s father asked the ladies for a loan of $22,500 which, according to the claim, he would not have returned in full. Neither the capital nor part of the interest. The children asked that the Court consider the complaint extinct and register the property in their name.
Bleach.
The judicial and media fate of Manuel Adorni will be known once the libertarian official presents his sworn statement. “It’s a matter of days,” Milei promised on May 7. Almost a month later (at the time of this edition) he still hadn’t done it. At Casa Rosada they take June 15 as the certain date of the presentation. It is no coincidence: it will be made public one day before the National Team’s debut in the World Cup.
On Thursday the 4th, prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita was able to complete an extensive report with information provided by virtual wallets, after the testing measures that the judicial official had demanded weeks ago. The moves made online by Adorni could complicate things further.
The laundering plan’s only objective is not to escape the judicial investigation, but also to reestablish itself as the spokesperson for the libertarian project. That is why, as the days went by, Adorni returned to make announcements of different government acts. “The registration registry is open so that mechanical workshops can carry out the Mandatory Technical Review,” he wrote on Wednesday the 3rd. “First thing tomorrow morning, Argentina will present its accession to the Trans-Pacific Treaty,” he added the same day. The comments do not forgive him: they all remind him of his patrimonial inconsistencies.
The surveys don’t lie either. His image has plummeted, but that is not the only problem: no official is unaware that the Adorni scandal dragged Milei down. The Government’s trend has been negative for four months. According to the work of the consulting firm Ad Hoc, 50% of the conversation on networks was rejection, 39% positive and 11% neutral. The Political Satisfaction and Public Opinion Survey of the University of San Andrés follows the same line: the May management image has a negative of 60 points and a positive of 37.
The mentions of Adorni overlap with other government scandals, but he remains the official most targeted by criticism.
A month ago, in the midst of the whirlwind of news about the cause, Fat Dan tweeted ironically: “When does the World Cup start?” His premonition is going to come true: the Chief of Staff will present his statement before the debut of the National Team. He hopes that the conversation will turn to the performance of Lionel Scaloni’s team. And get him out of sight. To him, his father, his brother and his wife.
