Delmastro case: the Executive Committee halts the acquisition of chat records between him and Caroccia. The M5S occupies the government benches in the Senate

The Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on Authorisation to Proceed has rejected the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office’s request to obtain the chat records between Andrea Delmastro and restaurateur Mauro Caroccia as part of the investigation into the management of a steakhouse in Rome, ‘Le Cinque Forchette’. The rejection of the Public Prosecutors’ request came with the approval of the majority’s report: the centre-right voted in favour of the proposal put forward by the rapporteur, Pietro Pittalis of Forza Italia, denying authorisation for the seizure of the correspondence. The centre-left voted against. Following the committee’s vote, the matter now passes to the Chamber of Deputies, which will deliver the final verdict.

Meanwhile, controversy has erupted and the Five Star Movement has occupied the government benches in the Senate chamber: “The authorisation committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate have become a shield for centre-right politicians; the majority rejects any request from magistrates regardless of any assessment of merit,” said the Five Star Movement members. Yesterday, the Movement’s leader, Giuseppe Conte, had ‘challenged’ the majority: ‘The question is: will Fratelli d’Italia and the majority allow the communications and messages between Delmastro and the Sienese clan’s front man to be made public and seized by the judiciary, or will they shield Delmastro just as they did in the Santanchè case?’ The answer is clearly no.