PS Leader José Luís Carneiro Denies Influence-Peddling Allegations in Wiretaps

A busy week in Lisbon politics ended with an unexpected twist: José Luís Carneiro, the Socialist Party’s secretary-general, publicly shrugged off wiretap revelations tied to the sprawling Operation Influencer probe. Below is what matters, why it matters and what might come next for a country already weary of ethics scandals.

Quick takeaways at a glance

• Carneiro insists “no favours” were sought, only a routine recommendation for former MP Nelson Brito.

• Almost 50 phone calls involving António Costa were captured, though the ex-prime-minister was never a formal target.

• The Public Prosecutor says some case files are not under full secrecy, sparking fresh arguments about leaks and transparency.

• Investigators continue to examine whether political “suggestions” crossed the line into influence peddling.

How phone taps drew a new protagonist into the spotlight

Wiretap excerpts published this week by magazine Sábado thrust Carneiro into a storyline he had largely avoided. In one October 2021 call, he touted Brito’s credentials to then Environment Minister Matos Fernandes, ideally for a post “south of the Tagus.” When the audio surfaced, many read it as a classic cunha—the Portuguese art of pushing a contact ahead of the queue. Carneiro answered hours later: recommending people, he argued, is “as common as coffee in Parliament” and hardly evidence of wrongdoing. “I did not ask for personal favours,” he repeated, downplaying the taps themselves: “I didn’t know I was being recorded, but I see no special gravity in it.”

What the recordings actually show—and what they do not

The published transcripts are brief. They record no direct promise of a job, no financial quid pro quo and no hint of pressure on civil servants. Yet prosecutors want to know whether such “friendly nudges” influenced hiring inside state-owned companies. Legal experts interviewed by RTP note that the threshold for the crime of influence trafficking is low: intent can be enough, even when the ask is informal. Defence lawyers counter that Portuguese political culture long tolerated “profile referrals” and that criminal law should not be used to police soft networking.

A case already shaking Portugal’s power corridors

Operation Influencer began in November 2023 with dawn raids on ministries linked to lithium concessions, a hydrogen hub and the €3.5 B Start Campus data-centre in Sines. Among the nine formal suspects are ex-Infrastructure Minister João Galamba, top civil servant Vítor Escária and lobbyist-lawyer Diogo Lacerda Machado. Five were detained during the first blitz. The probe triggered António Costa’s resignation and has since become a litmus test for Portugal’s anti-corruption resolve. Carneiro, crucially, is not an arguido, but his presence on the wiretaps widens the political fallout.

Why everyday voters should care

Public companies hire roughly 160 000 people; even minor meddling warps merit-based recruitment.

Repeated leaks from confidential files erode trust in both the judiciary and the press.

Pollsters already detect a drift toward abstention in upcoming municipal elections, often linked to cynicism over patronage.

Legal fog: secrecy, leaks and the PGR’s balancing act

The Prosecutor-General’s Office (PGR) confirmed that only part of the Influencer dossier is under internal secrecy, meaning suspects but not journalists may inspect evidence. That nuance let defendants view—and possibly share—wiretap content while reporters remain outside the loop. The PGR now explores a possible crime of disobedience tied to the unauthorised publication, even as Costa’s attorneys demand an inquiry into how the excerpts escaped the case file. Observers fear the procedural wrangling could overshadow the substance of alleged corruption.

Carneiro’s political calculus

Within the PS, some concede the optics are awkward: the party’s new number-two is fending off questions about patronage while campaigning to restore the Socialists’ ethical image. Yet party strategists bet that the public distinguishes between recommending a former mayor and pocketing bribes. If no formal charge emerges soon, Carneiro may even gain sympathy as a collateral victim of over-zealous snooping.

What happens next—and what to watch

• Prosecutors must decide whether to summon Carneiro as a witness or keep him at arm’s length.• Parliament’s transparency committee plans a January hearing on political appointments in state firms.• The Constitutional Court will rule on a data-retention challenge that could affect how long wiretaps are stored.

If the past two years taught anything, it is that Operation Influencer has more chapters to write. For citizens from Braga to Faro, the case doubles as an uncomfortable mirror: it reflects how informal networks intersect with formal power in Portugal—and how thin the line can be between a friendly referral and an illicit favour.