“Give us our daily dossier.” That’s how Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni captioned a post featuring herself and her sister Arianna, referencing the ongoing investigation in Bari. A bank official had been spying on the accounts of the Prime Minister, her sister, her ex-partner Andrea Giambruno, and prominent political figures such as Defense Minister Guido Crosetto and Senate President Ignazio La Russa. In short, the personal and political leadership of the ruling party, Brothers of Italy, which holds nearly 29% of the country’s vote. One wonders what our friends in America think of us—a nation of spies, though very specific ones, keenly focused on those in power.
If this had happened to the left, there would be an outcry about threats to democracy. Instead, the left is now accusing the right of playing the victim card, while still acknowledging the seriousness of the matter. And this is not an isolated case. Though the investigation in Bari is of a different nature, it echoes the Perugia investigation—known as the Striano case—where irregular access to data primarily involved right-wing figures.
Since this summer, Meloni has been speaking of a “smear machine,” an orchestrated effort to undermine the election. If she’s right, then a faction of the state is working against itself, with intelligence services operating independently. The situation is delicate, and it’s not enough to deflect with philosophical musings on the age of data manipulation. If there’s a mastermind behind this—and there surely is—it must be uncovered because the shadows are only growing.
