Influencer, drivers and the relationship with Pedro Nuno. Galamba in interview

João Galamba, former Minister of Infrastructure, said he was against the hearing, in Parliament, of the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) Lucília Gago, regarding Operation Influencer.

“My defense will be carried out at my own headquarters”he stated, in an interview with CNN Portugal, saying, however, understand the issue raised by the President of the Assembly of the Republic.

“I do not consider that the Attorney General of the Republic going to Parliament makes any sense”continued, stating, however, that if Lucília Gago feels she has to give explanations, she should do so.

“And, if I don’t do so, the Portuguese will certainly make their judgment about what is happening and about the Prosecutor’s behavior. But going to Parliament doesn’t seem right to me“, he stressed.

“I wasn’t heard, but it seems like I was heard for several years”

Regarding Operation Influencer, in which he is targeted, he guaranteed: “I wasn’t heard, but it seems like I was heard for several years”. João Galamba stated that, after the searches, on November 7, he presented a “request to be heard”.

“My lawyers have already insisted on being heard, but I haven’t been yet”he asserted, also saying that he was unable to consult the process.

“Everything I know is from the media”, he lamented, in the same interview.

I will end up being innocent

“It would be very tempting for me to ride on the recent news that is favorable to me, but I’m not going to do so”, he continued, reiterating that the defense will be carried out “at my own headquarters”. “Obviously, I have a completely clear conscience about everything I did. I know everything I did. I also know everything I didn’t do”he also said, quoting António Costa: “I know how this process will end”.

“I will end up being innocent”he stressed.

João Galamba, who was accused as part of an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on the lithium, hydrogen and Sines data center business, he also highlighted, in the same interview, that it is “normal and banal” for any government official to “hold meetings and meals” and negotiate in restaurants.

Galamba says he had the right to personal use of drivers

Regarding the use of drivers from the Ministry of Infrastructure, a practice pointed out to Galamba – and criticized by Luís Montenegro in his first Council of Ministers as Prime Minister -, the former government official did not hesitate to speak.

“The Prime Minister at the informal Óbidos Council said that the Government was going to publish a code of ethics to avoid, and I am mentioning, ‘Galamba cases’. And I speak specifically about this, because the current Prime Minister has never held executive functions, so some ignorance in this matter could be excused, but he is a jurist and has an obligation to know the law, which is clear. The decree-law of 78 that is in force says that the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, members of the Government, the President of the Constitutional Court, the President of the Supreme Court and, if I am not mistaken, Mrs. Attorney General of the Republic”shot Galamba.

“I can guarantee that all the uses I made were in exact terms of the law and always for the benefit of my functions, if not in the exercise of my functions”, he asserted.

And he added: “I don’t have a father or a mother. They have passed away and my in-laws live in Funchal, so my daughters don’t have grandparents in Lisbon. And I always made a point of picking up my daughters from school, interrupting if I didn’t have an important meeting. And I went, with my drivers, to pick up my daughters from school, doctor’s appointments…“he pointed out, saying he did not accept Luís Montenegro’s criticism.

Pedro Nuno? “You never said anything to me in the last few months”

Finally, asked if he has had contact with the current secretary general of the PS, Pedro Nuno Santos, João Galamba stated that they are not in contact. “We used to be closer”, he admitted, referring explanations to himself.

“You never told me anything in the last few months, not even on the day of the searches”he asserted, adding that he only spoke to Pedro Nuno Santos once after the TAP ‘episode’.

Read Also: Evidence collected in Operation Influencer could be declared null and void

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