Scandal Unveiled: Ex-Cabinet Chief Vítor Escária Interrogated in State Secret Breach Investigation

Vítor Escária Interrogated

Vítor Escária was interrogated this Thursday morning at the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP) as part of an inquiry stemming from Operation Influencer, which investigates alleged breaches of state secrets. This confirmation came from Amadeu Guerra, the Attorney General, during statements to the press.

According to reports from CNN and confirmed by Observador, the former chief of staff of ex-Prime Minister António Costa has been formally constituted as an accused in this case, suspected of crimes such as illegitimate access and potential breach of state secrets.

Contents of the Investigated Pen Drive

Escária reportedly stated in the interrogation that the pen drive had been in the office safe since the time of his predecessor, Francisco André, who is currently the EU ambassador to Mexico and is also expected to be constituted as an accused.

This morning, Guerra assured that “necessary individuals will be heard” to uncover “the truth,” during a visit to the Porto Este district in Penafiel. He emphasized, “We are investigating. The investigation concerns only a ‘pen’ that was there,” denying the existence of more computer storage devices in the possession of the Public Ministry in this case.

Additionally, he acknowledged information regarding the Public Ministry's lead related to Marco Aragão, a citizen previously deemed not criminally responsible in two earlier cases, during which he accessed data from the Social Security of police officers, spies, and judges.

Previous Investigations and Findings

Guerra mentioned an underlying previous case involving a person already judged, hinting at possible connections to this situation. He stated, “We will investigate this; we have requested the original case to compare what happened in both situations.”

As reported by Sábado and confirmed by Observador, this new investigation emerged from searches conducted at the official residence of the Prime Minister on November 7, 2023, where a pen drive was discovered in Escária's office. This device allegedly contains data on agents from the Information and Security Service (SIS), Strategic Information and Defense Service (SIED), Judicial Police (PJ), and Tax Authority (AT).

The data includes sensitive information on various officials, including Luís Neves, the director of the Judical Police, and Rui Fiolhais, the former president of the Social Security Institute, among dozens of police, spies, and prosecutors whose details were stored on the pen drive found in Escária's office.

The information retrieved from the device, discovered during the November searches as part of Operation Influencer, has sparked a new inquiry by the Public Ministry, with suspicions of breaching state secrets and tax confidentiality. There are also concerns regarding unauthorized access due to the tax declarations stored on the pen drive.

The seized pen drive was kept in a transparent plastic bag inside a safe in Escária's office, where approximately €75,000 in cash was also found, stored in envelopes and a champagne box.

(Article updated at 14:10)