ROME (ITALPRESS) – “I never spent a euro from the ministry on Mrs. Boccia, her trips were paid for by me with my personal credit card. The relationship between me and Boccia was an emotional one, but I am not blackmailable because I did not use public money.” Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano said this in an interview with TG1 about his relationship with Maria Rosaria Boccia. “I was willing to resign one minute after President Meloni asked me to. But when she saw the documentary evidence I brought her that made the affair just a matter of gossip, without any confidentiality ever circulating, she told me to go ahead and clarify well the point of truth,” the minister added after showing bank statements and receipts of airline ticket payments. “I met Dr. Boccia at the beginning of the European election campaign at a Fratelli d’Italia event in Naples. She was introduced to me by mutual friends even though she later published a photo from 2023. But she was not together with me but in one of the many photos taken at an event,” explained Sangiuliano, who on the subject of Boccia’s non-appointment as an advisor replied, “After a personal friendship was born, I found in her some organizational skills, after which I thought of appointing her always free of charge as an advisor for the organization of major events. The relationship then became a love affair, and while I continued to pursue the hypothesis of the appointment, I found after consulting with some lawyers and my chief of staff that this might constitute a conflict of interest. I myself asked the chief of staff by email to discontinue Boccia’s appointment: the conflict of interest is both sentimental and because of his participation of events that could conflict with ours. No submission to the Central Budget Office was ever made on the appointment, and even the contract that Boccia could show is without countersignature.” On the subject of possible sensitive data breaches ahead of the G7 Culture, Sangiuliano assured that “Dr. Boccia has never had access at all to either classified documents or confidential documents regarding the G7,” and that her presence at the Ministry would only occur four or five times. “I called Boccia last night to tell her to be correct and accurate in her statements. The first person I have to apologize to is my wife, then I ask Meloni for the embarrassment created to her and the government, then to my collaborators who, having done nothing, find themselves invested in this affair,” the minister concluded. (ITALPRESS).
photo: Photogram Agency
