After having all charges dismissed in the Libra case, President Javier Milei claimed that several journalists used the case to extort the government in exchange for dodging taxes, and celebrated the proper functioning of the Argentine justice system.
Key Takeaways
- Argentine President Milei demanded compensation for slander after his acquittal in the Libra token fraud case.
- Milei accused major media outlets and journalists of orchestrating a political smear campaign to extort him.
- Critics blasted the ruling, accusing officials of hiding evidence of the token promoters’ government meetings.
President Javier Milei Calls out Politicization of Libra’s Case
Argentina’s President Javier Milei has reacted to the dismissal of all charges against him and other defendants regarding their involvement with the Libra token.
On social media, Milei called for compensation from those who accused him of wrongdoing linked to the issuance of the Viva La Libertad Project, also known as the Libra token. Blasting the accusations that the Argentine press made against him since the case started, Milei stressed:
“AND NOW WHO COMPENSATES ME FOR A YEAR, EIGHT MONTHS, AND NINE DAYS OF LIES, SLANDERS, AND INSULTS AIMED AT TAINTING MY GOOD NAME AND HONOR?,” hinting at possible legal actions against
Milei got involved in the project’s launch by sharing its Solana contract on social media and disclosing that the private token would incentivize the Argentine economy’s growth by funding small Argentine companies. After he deleted this post hours later, when Libra’s price dumped, he stressed that he had no links to the project.
The president highlighted that at the center of this probe fallout was a “political and media operation whose sole aim was to damage the presidential office for coup-mongering political ends.”
Milei declared that large press groups in Argentina, including La Nacion, used the case as a political weapon to extort the government “in exchange for dodging taxes.”
“To the bribed journalists, mercenaries of lies, and serial fabricators of operations like Hugo Alconada Mon, Carlos Pagni, Paulino Rodríguez, Natalia Volosin, Novaresio, and all the others who exploited this issue: who’s going to clean up all the garbage they spread now?” Milei concluded.
The president’s acquittal spurred reactions from some who criticized the direction of the now-closed probe. Maximiliano Ferraro, national deputy and former head of the Libra Congressional Commission, which recommended probing Milei for misconduct, highlighted that not even a single person was called to give statements, accusing federal judge Marcelo Martinez de Giorgi and public prosecutor Eduardo Taiano of hiding and throwing evidence away, slowing the probe.
“They never explained the dozens of meetings that Libra promoters held in Casa Rosada and Quinta de Olivos, the crypto transactions executed before and after meeting the president, and the calls between the involved on the day Libra was launched,” Ferraro concluded, labeling all the involved as criminals.