Disclosure of wiretaps exposes Rosalba and Agripino.

Claudio Julio Tognolli _247 - An obscure blog from Rio Grande do Norte is causing quite a stir: journalist Daniel Dantas published, on his blog with the same nameA collection of legal wiretaps, generated in 2006, an election year – has now put the current governor Rosalba Ciarlini (DEM) in hot water. At the time, she was a candidate for the Senate; and the recordings reveal the financial machinery of how a senator is made. Or not.

There are 42 wiretaps originating from Galbi Saldanha. He appears conversing with the husband of Governor Rosalba Ciarlini, Carlos Augusto, with Senator José Agripino Maia (DEM-RN), and with other interlocutors, discussing matters related to the financial transactions of Rosalba's Senate campaign in 2006. In most of the wiretaps, the "first gentleman" Carlos Augusto Rosado and the then-advisor Galbi Saldanha discuss extremely difficult financial negotiations.

In the recording, Senator José Agripino Maia, national president of the DEM party, discusses payments. Lawyer Felipe Cortez, who defends Governor Rosalba Ciarlini, says it's all nonsense: he maintains that the Attorney General's Office (PGR) dismissed the case concerning the videos in 2009 due to a lack of evidence of a crime. In most of them, the "first gentleman" Carlos Augusto Rosado and his then-advisor Galbi Saldanha discuss the negotiations.

The conversations have already gained national attention. On his blog, journalist Cláudio Humberto shared a statement from José Agripino denying any wrongdoing. The content of the conversations was even sent to the Attorney General's Office, which archived the material due to lack of substance. The conversations, however, expose behind-the-scenes electoral maneuvering.

- Galbi, I just want to know if he already... if he already paid his share... uh... - Senator José Agripino begins.

- The boy's, right? - Galbi Saldanha interjects.

- Salatiel, that's right - Agripino confirms.

Okay. I spoke to him right then and everything's fine.

Okay. I was in Maceió, but my satisfaction came from seeing my promise fulfilled quickly.

The excerpt above is a reproduction of a conversation that took place between the two parties on September 17, 2006. On the same day, Galbi Saldanha and Salatiel de Souza discussed electoral support:

- I'm calling you... Dr. Rosalba has a package for you. This package will be sent to her via PFL, you understand, right? - Galbi says.

- Okay. - Salatiel confirms, to which Galbi continues:

Tarcisinho is authorized to pass this package on to you. Since it's already arrived with her, she wants to send it to you via PFL.

The deal is sanctioned by the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), which records that the committee of the then PFL (Liberal Front Party) transferred R$ 60 to Salatiel de Sousa.

In another excerpt, Carlos Augusto comments that he will transfer R$ 100 to Betinho Rosado's campaign account, but that the money does not belong to him, but will only pass through his account. "This money belongs to Rosalba," emphasizes Carlos Augusto, who continues: "When it arrives, we'll see how it gets back to Rosalba."

The wiretaps also reveal mentions involving sums of money belonging to the president of the Legislative Assembly, Ricardo Motta, and to congresswoman Gesane Marinho, the president of the City Council, Edivan Martins, and former councilman Renado Dantas.

The Democrats issued the following statement on the matter:

CLARIFICATION NOTE REGARDING PARTY DONATIONS FROM PFL-RN IN 2006

The then PFL-RN made official donations to all its candidates for deputy in the 2006 elections, as evidenced by the attached list of accounts already approved by the TRE-RN (Regional Electoral Court of Rio Grande do Norte).

These party donations include three installments of R$ 20 (proven by the attached copies of official receipts) transferred to the then candidate for state representative, Salatiel de Souza.
Graciously

Listen to the legal wiretaps.

The first round of the 2006 elections took place on October 01st. From then on, Rosalba Ciarlini's campaign group, led by Carlos Augusto Rosado, began to worry about how to pay off the debts from commitments made.

The following file contains three different intercepted calls, made on October 09th and 10th. In the first of these calls, Galbi Saldanha speaks with a man identified as Daniel, a representative of Itamar Rocha. Daniel demands a decision. The payment to Itamar under the scheme would be made through a contract that had not been signed. As the contract concerned the election period, there would be a problem.

"I don't know how he's going to pay, because if it was a contract to be paid by check, I can't pay anymore because the election is over," says Galbi in the second call of the package, in a conversation with a woman in the PFL office.

In the last call, Galbi says that Carlos Augusto instructed him to tear up the contract. The current first gentleman acknowledges the debt, but will only pay when he can.

Other debts are reported. For example, according to Galbi, payments of around R$ 60 were already scheduled for the end of the month, and he doesn't know how the payments will be made now that the campaign is over.

The recordings contain evidence relating to the purchase of support and slush funds.

Listen:

This recording is the most explicit of all. And it involves two city councilors in Natal at the time, who were candidates - Edvan Martins, the current president of the City Council, and Renato Dantas, convicted of selling his vote in Operation Impact.

listen here The wiretap made against Senator José Agripino Maia: 

In three more recordings, Carlos Augusto speaks clearly about buying the support of three state deputies:

Payment to Renato Dantas and Edvan Martins corresponded to half of what was agreed upon.

Carlos Augusto explains to Galbi Saldanha the change of plans for the use of the money. 

"Today I have a little money to send," says Carlos Augusto about Ricardo Motta and Gersane Marinho.

And other hair clips:

Even after receiving R$ 20 for his support, Salatiel de Souza stayed with Wilma.

Galbi wants to buy votes to "drip" some towards Rosalba.

Renato Dantas or Renato Fernandes?

On his blog, @RenatoDantass denies being a beneficiary mentioned by Carlos Augusto.