Operation Influencer: António Costa identified as "Anselmo" in 2022 wiretaps
Five wiretap conversations from Operation Influencer identified António Costa by the codename "Anselmo". The conversations were not forwarded to the Supreme Court of Justice, an error detected three years later.
Codename "Anselmo" linked to António Costa in Operation Influencer wiretaps
According to Correio da Manhã, cited by CNN Portugal, António Costa appears identified by the codename "Anselmo" in five wiretap conversations carried out in December 2022 as part of Operation Influencer.
The calls were held with Diogo Lacerda Machado, who was then close to the former prime minister and one of the defendants in the case. Despite the telephone number belonging to Costa, the interlocutor was recorded under the code name "Anselmo". The two conversed about an alleged trip to the Central African Republic and its respective costs — a trip that Costa did indeed make in February 2023, to visit the Portuguese military mission.
The wiretaps were not forwarded to the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ), as the law requires. The error was described in the case as an "oversight" and was only detected three years later, in a report prepared by a Criminal Police inspector in October 2025.
The conversations were then sent for validation by the president of the STJ, Cura Mariano, who refused to analyse them, considering that António Costa no longer held office as prime minister. The Public Prosecution Service revealed, on the occasion of the third anniversary of Operation Influencer, that it continues to be unable to access the contents of 30 electronic devices seized in the case.
Source: CNN Portugal