Tourism Minister Daniela Santanché on
Thursday reiterated that she has still not received official
notice of an alleged probe against her and insisted that she
will not step down.
"Me take a step back? I don't see why I should," the minister
told the farmers' association Confagricoltura assembly in Rome.
"Today, as I speak, I have still not received any notice of an
investigation. Some newspapers are writing big lies, and so we
will file a complaint and ask for damages. I am totally calm,"
said Santanché.
"My grandfather taught me not to be afraid if you haven't done
anything wrong," the minister added.
"I'm pressing ahead. No one has ever accused me in my duties as
a minister," she said.
Santanché, a top exponent of Premier Giorgia Meloni's Brother's
of Italy (FdI) party, has been facing calls to quit since
investigative journalism programme Report on Rai 3 reported that
businesses linked to her allegedly failed to pay suppliers and
dismissed workers without giving them redundancy payments, as
well as allegedly improperly receiving COVID aid.
Last week she briefed parliament on the issue, telling lawmakers
she was not under criminal investigation and had been the victim
of "dirty, disgusting
practices" by the media.
Media subsequently reported that she has been under
investigation since October along with five other people who had
roles in the businesses, including her sister Fiorella Garnero
and her partner Dimitri Kuntz D'Asburgo.
Speaking from the NATO summit in Vilnius on Wednesday, Meloni
described the issue as "very complex".
"It has to be seen on its merits when its merits are fully
known, but I think that is up to the courtrooms and not to the
TV broadcasts," she said, adding that, unlike a case involving
Justice Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro, the matter is "not
political".
"It does not concern her activity as minister, which she is
doing very well," said Meloni.
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