President Javier Milei suffered another damaging blow on Sunday as his top candidate in the upcoming October midterms withdrew from the running.
After a turbulent week of speculation and scandal, José Luis Espert bowed to growing pressure and said he would not run in the national midterms for La Libertad Avanza in Buenos Aires Province.
The decision comes less than 48 hours after Espert admitted he received payments from an Argentine businessman under investigation for drug-trafficking.
The economist, a sitting deputy, announced his decision in a post on social media, in which he denounced “an operation clearly orchestrated by a system that has destroyed Argentina for decades.”
He denies any wrongdoing and claims he is the victim of a stitch-up by the opposition coalition.
“I have submitted my resignation as candidate for national deputy for Buenos Aires Province, and President Javier Milei has decided to accept it,” Espert wrote.
"I cannot allow the project for the country that we have undertaken with so much effort to fall apart," the lawmaker said in a post on X.
Milei's government said Sunday that PRO national deputy Diego Santilli would replace Espert on the ticket.
Pressure
The scandal comes at a time of intense pressure for the Milei government, which last week saw Congress overturn two presidential vetoes.
Milei's government is facing accusations of corruption while managing a volatile economic climate. Last month, the ruling party suffered a morale-denting defeat in legislative elections in Buenos Aires Province.
Espert, 63, was accused last week of having received US$200,000 in 2020 from Federico Andrés ‘Fred’ Machado, a 57-year-old entrepreneur being held under house arrest in Argentina who is wanted by the US justice system for alleged links to drug-trafficking.
Espert said he had received the money as payment for consulting work for a mining company in Guatemala owned by Machado.
The lawmaker also acknowledged that, as part of his 2019 presidential campaign, he had made around 35 trips on Machado's planes, but claimed he was unaware of the businessman's alleged links to drug-trafficking.
Espert previously said he had made only one trip on Machado’s jet.
In his statement, he described the controversy as “a ruthless media trial against me, to which I will no longer lend myself.”
The libertarian economist insisted he has “nothing to hide” and pledged to prove his innocence “before the courts, without privileges or immunity.”
“Time will show that all this was a great lie, intended to tarnish this electoral process and avoid debating what Argentines must do to change the course of our country,” he said.
Espert addressed party leaders and activists, urging them not to be “manipulated.”
“Use every second left until election day to explain to Argentines the opportunity we have ahead, that we must not waste our efforts, and that this is the only possible path to recover the future,” he said.
Milei denounced what he called a "sinister operation" by the opposition against his political ally.
The ruling party, La Libertad Avanza, is in the minority in both chambers. The government hopes to win more seats in the October 26 legislative elections, although it has little prospect of achieving a majority.
Tears
Espert had broken down in tears in an earlier interview, targeting social activist and fellow candidate Juan Grabois, who has filed a criminal complaint with the courts.
The scandal erupted last weekend after it was revealed that Espert received the US$200,000 transfer in 2020.
"I am going through a very distressing time," Espert told Radio Mitre anchor Gabriel Anello.
"Inside, I would personally say I am very hurt, broken, I would say, broken, broken by the devastation that this son of a bitch Grabois and his family have done to my family, to my name," he said.
He said the “terrible” scandal was now affecting his relatives and his family’s name.
"I have children, I have brothers, a wife, and [what] this scum has done to my name, which is my father’s...
"I went from being a doctor of economics with a 10 to a drug-dealer, it's crazy," he lamented.
"This bunch of criminals is dragging us into this game. And we're going to fight them. And we're going to win. And I'm going to prove in court that I am completely innocent in this," he declared.
Online critics of the libertarian lawmaker, however, highlighted that Espert himself is one of the more outspoken politicians in Argentina. Painting the moment as his comeuppance, they noted had no problem condemning his rivals and their families, including former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Grabois responded on social media.
“You lying drug-dealer, playing the victim after harassing half the country, you're not pitiful, you're disgusting. I never mentioned the name of a single member of your family, let alone a daughter, as you did with the daughter of Cristina [Fernández de Kirchner] because you're a rat with the ethics of a jackal,” said the lawyer, who is running as a candidate for Fuerza Patria in the October elections.
He told his rival to “act like a man of dignity” and resign.
Grabois went on to critique Espert’s defence, picking holes in his story and parts of the tale he fails to acknowledge.
Revelations
Further details of the relationship between Espert and Machado continue to emerge.
Revelations over the weekend, based on court documents in a federal case in Texas, indicated that the US$200,000 payment was deposited into a personal account in Espert’s name at the Morgan Stanley investment bank in the United States and that it was an advance from a total agreement worth at least US$1 million.
The information confirms the money trail and exposes a network of transfers that inextricably links Espert, Machado and the alleged mining company that hired him.
According to the investigation, which cites findings by Grabois and was published by the elDiarioAR and Perfil media outlets , the transfer was made on January 22, 2020 from the Aircraft Guarantee Corp (AGC) trust, an entity at the centre of the investigation into drug-trafficking, fraud and money-laundering.
The money was directed to Morgan Stanley account 852017501, in the name of José Luis Espert. This information confirms part of the deputy's own confession, as he had admitted to receiving the funds in an account in his name in the United States.
However, a source with knowledge of the deal said that “the plan was to pay him at least US$1 million in monthly instalments,” but the agreement was thwarted by the pandemic and the Texas prosecutors' accusations against Machado.
In addition, the same accounting records detailing the payment to Espert demonstrate the direct connection between the trust and Minas del Pueblo, the Guatemalan firm that Espert said he advised.
The Bank of America record details 25 transfers from the AGC trust to Minas del Pueblo Trading totalling US$12,470,000 between 2015 and 2020.
This flow of money undermines Espert's claim that the contract was an isolated job with an independent company.
His attempt to play down his ties to Machado have also been questioned. Footage emerged over the weekend of Espert at one of the businessman’s properties.
Asked about the clip, in which he is shown laying down next to a swimming pool, Espert admitted that the video "is very likely true," but said he had "filmed tons of videos in homes, in places with people."
Pushed again by the reporter to confirm its veracity, he finally admitted that the video "could easily be" real and that he had indeed visited the property.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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