Argentine judge bans release of Karina Milei audios amid scandal

Six days before a key Buenos Aires Province election, a federal judge in Argentina has blocked journalists from releasing audio recordings of President Javier Milei’s sister, Karina, in the midst of a bribery scandal.

The order was issued Monday after a complaint by Milei’s government denouncing “an illegal intelligence operation intended to destabilise the country in the middle of an electoral campaign,” according to a post on X by spokesman Manuel Adorni.

On Friday, journalist Mauro Federico of local streaming channel Carnaval published two brief clips of Karina that he described as the “tip” of a much larger trove of recordings, totaling 50 minutes, that would be released over coming days. In one, Karina allegedly describes long work hours and in another, she urges unity. The clips were “illegally recorded” inside the Casa Rosada presidential palace, Adorni said in his post. 

The saga broke out August 20, when Federico aired audio recordings of Diego Spagnuolo, a former government official, allegedly describing a kickback scheme involving a government contract for pharmaceutical purchases at ANIS, Argentina’s national disability agency. Spagnuolo named Karina and her top aide, Eduardo 'Lule' Menem, in the audios. Milei fired Spagnuolo the next day but waited nearly a week before declaring at a campaign event that “everything he says is a lie.” During the same event, protesters threw rocks at the President, and more violence broke out in a separate campaign stop led by Karina the next day.

In the complaint filed by Argentina’s Security Ministry, the government requests searches at the streaming channel, Federico’s residence and those of multiple other journalists accused of trying to aid the opposition ahead of provincial and national midterm elections. The complaint calls for computers, phones, laptops and thumb drives to be seized. 

The libertarian leader faces a key local vote Sunday in Buenos Aires Province, which is seen by investors as a bellwether for national midterms on October 26. Argentina’s largest by population, Buenos Aires Province is a stronghold for the Peronist opposition led by former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.