In late August, Argentine media outlets published audio recordings of Diego Spagnuolo, the then-head of the country’s National Disability Agency, discussing alleged kickbacks related to contracts from pharmaceutical companies. President Javier Milei fired him immediately. While that would usually be enough to stop a story like this in its tracks, it did not tame the scandal, which has overtaken the political narrative in Argentina and now looms over Milei’s government ahead of crucial midterm elections in late October.
The reason the recordings are so damning is that Spagnuolo was not just a random government official caught in a low-level corruption scheme. Before being named to run a government agency, Spagnuolo was Milei’s longtime personal lawyer. As a close ally, he was instrumental in Milei’s meteoric political rise to the Casa Rosada, as Argentina’s presidential office is known.
Worse still, in the audio recordings, Spagnuolo talks about making payments to Karina Milei—the president’s sister, chief of staff and closest confidant—through another close adviser, Eduardo “Lule” Menem. Since Milei’s election, some media outlets have taken to portraying Karina Milei as Argentina’s de facto first lady, given that the president is unmarried. Though that may misrepresent her political power and influence within the government, Karina’s presence is a key part of Milei’s political identity, and firing her would be at the very least awkward, given their personal relationship.