Sangiuliano case, Boccia: minister under blackmail. He considers a complaint to the public prosecutor's office

With Maria Rosaria Boccia I had a relationship 'of a personal, affective kind', but 'for her I paid, not a euro was spent by the Mic' and 'on this ground I am not blackmailable', the minister continued. Maria Rosaria Boccia, he added, 'I met her at the beginning of the election campaign for the European elections at an Fdi event in Naples; she was introduced to me by mutual friends even though she then published a photo of 2023, one of many photos taken at an event. Our relationship began some time after we met. We met in the first ten days of May and at the end of July, beginning of August, the relationship ended'.

Were confidential G7 documents violated? "Absolutely not! Marginal aspects of the G7 were leaked, but no classified or confidential documents,' he continued. "After the premier's speech at Del Debbio's she posted documents that to us look like the programme of the event, times of entry or lunch. It's just a programme that, by the way, had already been published by La Repubblica online'.

On the subject of Boccia's non-appointment, Sangiuliano said: 'A personal friendship was born and organisational skills were found, which is why I wanted to appoint her as a free councillor. From a friendship, the relationship became affectionate and sentimental, and after pursuing the nomination hypothesis, I consulted legal friends and the head of the cabinet who told me that all this could constitute a conflict of interest. So I sent an email to the head of cabinet in which I invited him to stop the nomination because of the potential conflict of interest: not only because of the sentimental relationship, but also because of other findings about his participation in events that could conflict with ours. The appointment is finalised by sending it to the Budget Office, which never happened. There is no protocol, even the contract that she could show was not countersigned, the procedure was interrupted, but this has happened frequently in this government and others'.

'The first person I have to apologise to,' continued the minister, with tears in his eyes, 'because she is an exceptional person, is my wife. I apologise to Meloni for the embarrassment caused to her and to the government. I apologise to my collaborators who were involved in the affair'.

In the interview Sangiuliano therefore referred to the conversation that lasted about an hour and a half with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. At the end of the meeting at Palazzo Chigi, which took place on Tuesday 3 September, the resignation of the Minister of Culture was not forthcoming due to the case of the missed 'consultant Maria Rosaria Boccia. .

Answering Tg1 to a question on fears that Boccia might publish new documents, Sangiuliano clarified: "Surely the chats can come out, even though this would be a crime. They are chats relating to an affective relationship".

Boccia, however, decided to publish other documents during the night. In particular, it is an email dated 10 July sent by one of the ministry's cabinet officials. 'Dear Dr Boccia,' is the incipit. "Following up on what was anticipated in advance a short while ago, I enclose the contact details of myself and my colleague for any needs related to your appointment as advisor to the minister for "Major Events""..

Pd, for Sangiuliano private use of public TV

Fifteen minutes of an interview with a minister on facts on which the oppositions have asked to report in parliament is nothing more than a private use of the public service. The embarrassing affair involving the minister, the institutions, and the G7 organisation has not been cleared up to date. On the contrary, with a daily trickle of news, it shows the repeated lies of members of the government and opens up new issues that need to be reported in parliament. In addition, today there is another incredible episode in this scandal: a 15-minute slot, with no participation by the opposition, to the one and only voice of the Minister. This is not public information, it is an information regime that mortifies the public service to private use. We call for the RAI top management to be summoned to the Vigilance Commission'. Thus in a joint note the parliamentarians of the PD group in the RAI Vigilance.

M5s, for Sangiuliano abnormal space at Tg1, immediate vigilance

Pressing even of the Five Stars. "The sad soap opera starring the minister of culture finds an abnormal amount of space on public TV's first news programme this evening. Over 10 minutes in which Gennaro Sangiuliano uses Rai's most important TG to self-assimilate. Is this Servizio Pubblico? We will take the matter to the supervisory committee'. Thus the exponents of the 5 Star Movement in the Rai surveillance commission.

Boccia, blackmail is of those who occupy palaces of power

"During this affair, I initially maintained press silence out of respect for the institutions. I chose to speak only when the vase of lies was full, limiting myself to challenging the falsehoods in order to defend the truth'. Thus Maria Rosaria Boccia in a post on Instagram in the aftermath of Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano's interview with Tg1. " Today," she adds, "I am accused of being a blackmailer, but in reality it is not I who created the blackmail. It is those who occupy the palaces of power who exercise it. In this context, the powers that be pushed the minister to resign and then rejected her, as part of a cynical strategy to hold Italian culture hostage at a time of international visibility'. I am not the one who created the blackmail.