Ignacio Ortelli
08/23/2021 7:40 PM
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 08/23/2021 7:40 PM
Focused on the campaign, Alberto Fernández tries to leave behind the scandal over the celebration of Fabiola Yañez's birthday at Quinta de Olivos, while he awaits the summons of Justice and evaluates his movements. For now, in the face of some transcendent,
in the last hours he confirmed Gregorio Dalbón as his lawyer in the case
in which the breach of preventive and compulsory social isolation that he himself imposed is investigated, and outlines the arguments for his defense. He insists that he did not commit any crime and, as
Clarín
learned
, he does not rule out making a presentation, beyond the fact that the Government reinforces his conviction that he did not commit any crime because he did not generate infections.
“The President is at the disposal of the Justice.
With his lawyers, he is in the process of technical construction of the defense and does not rule out making a presentation, ”says a close collaborator of the President, who spoke with him about the Olivos episode.
It must be remembered that, as soon as the scandal was uncovered, there were officials who already predicted that Alberto F. was going to follow in the footsteps of the first lady and would appear, but with the passing of the days that strategy seemed to deflate due to the intention of the Casa Rosada to remove the affair of visits from the agenda and "move forward."
In that sense, so far, Fernández is the only one who participated in the celebration of his partner who has not yet appointed a legal advisor in the case.
But he will do it as soon as he receives a call from Justice.
It will be Dalbón, who already represented him in the lawsuit he initiated against the president of the PRO, Patricia Bullrich, for the accusation of having received bribes to agree on contracts with vaccines.
"We are already defining the Olivos strategy. We consider together with the President that for technical and legal reasons there was no crime. However, @alferdez insists, not only on having apologized to the people, but on taking charge before the courts," announced this Monday the lawyer on his Twitter, before some transcendent who realized that for this cause Alberto F. was looking for another lawyer.
The funny thing is that on Friday, August 13, in an interview with América, Dalbón had left no doubts when consulted.
"I am a lawyer for Cristina and the President of the Nation. I say it so that they take it into account in terms of my statements," he remarked, on two occasions, so that there would be no doubts, when analyzing the responsibility of his "client" around to dinner on July 14 of last year.
This Monday, after the lawyer's posting, unobjectionable sources from the President confirmed to Clarín that the head of state chose to continue with Dalbón.
Gregorio Dalbón, in Courts.
Photo Pedro Lázaro Fernández.
More: Dalbón would have been summoned during the weekend by the President to the residence.
As
Clarín
published
a week ago, the President considers that he did not commit any crime and that what happened on that birthday cannot be framed in the conduct punishable by Article 205 of the Penal Code, on which the DNU focuses, because there were no people infected with Covid-19.
This weekend, the Chief of Staff, Santiago Cafiero, whitewashed the official strategy: "I think it was not a crime," he said.
"Although there was a meeting and a breach, there was no propagation of anything, no one was infected," he added.
The Cabinet Headquarters endorsed the minister's statements.
They argued that "the criminal offense in Article 205 is one of abstract danger" and "it is vital that points of contact between non-compliance and the spread of the virus be corroborated."
On this point, they warn that "there is no evidence to prove that Olivos visited them have been infected or transmitted."
Likewise, during this Monday, officials who surround the president and accompany him on the tour of the Interior pointed out that this premise does not change their intention to make themselves available to investigators: "The strategy is for him to take charge before the Justice," sources say with access to the President, although they admit that the steps to follow have not yet been defined.
Several issues have a bearing on this evaluation.
Not only the continuity of the case in Comodoro Py and the possibility that it will finally fall to the courts of San Isidro: the government periodically follows the political impact and draws different scenarios for the final stretch of the campaign.
The expectation of the strategists of the FDT command is to stop the advance of the file until after the PASO, to encapsulate the agenda in the media and prevent the impact from making more of a dent in the electoral possibilities of the candidates.
It is not, in this framework, a decision that the head of state can take without consultation.
Alberto Fernández, along with Cristina Kirchner in Avellaneda, in one of the events they shared last week