President of Covid CPI says Health Minister “lied too much”, will be summoned back

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of the Senate Covid CPI (Investigative Committee), Omar Aziz (PSD-AM), said on Wednesday that Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga “lied too much” in his testimony last week to the committee, and did not rule out accepting future requests for arrest of deponents for failing to tell the truth.

Aziz’s comment came near the end of ex-secretary of Social Communication of the Presidency Fábio Wajngarten’s testimony, whose arrest was requested by CPI rapporteur Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL) and rejected by the president of the committee.

“The current Minister is going to come back here because he lied a lot, he lied too much, he lied even more than you did (referring to Fábio Wajngarten), he’s going to come back and then he’s going to have to explain how he can say it’s never too late after 425,000 deaths,” said the CPI president.

“It is not late for you, Minister, who has not lost relatives, friends, who has not been orphaned. It is late for those who have been orphaned, for those who have lost loved ones, family and friends. Yes, it is late, Minister, we could have solved this much earlier,” he added.

There are now requests for Queiroga to be summoned again to the CPI, after senators criticized his testimony to the committee.

In his speech, the president of the collegiate did not detail which lies the current Health Minister told. When reached for comment, Queiroga’s press office did not immediately reply.

When speaking about ex-secretary of communication Wajngarten, Aziz said he could decree a deponent’s arrest in the future.

“Today I may not have taken the decision that many wanted, but I think you (Wajngarten) brought a contribution to this CPI that no one, no deponent, has brought so far. But don’t be fooled that I won’t have this restraint in relation to other depositions here, you can be sure of that”, he said.

The president of the CPI said that those who believe they can play games or intimidate the investigative committee are “very wrong.”

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