Adam Dubove reports at the Pan Am Post that a fire, which had not been publicly disclosed, hit an underground section of the Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Buenos Aires, on February 21. It appears to have destroyed key evidence that could have corroborated the 2015 complaint by Alberto Nisman against President Cristina Kirchner and others.
The story emerged only a month later, when the Argentine newspaper Clarin reported it last weekend.
Dubove notes that the fire reportedly destroyed all the registry of those who entered and exited the building in the main entrance:
The records burnt correspond to the Casa Rosada entry on Balcarce street, an access point used mostly by low-ranking employees and occasional visitors who must present an ID to enter. The fire did not reach the principal door, where the president, ministers, secretaries, and special guests go through.
However, a source inside the pink-hued seat of the presidency told Clarín: “Almost the whole database was deleted. Most of those who entered [the building] after the fire are ‘new’ people for the system. There are no records.”
The information, if it still exists in back-up form, could verify evidence in the intercepted audio files used by Nisman in his case against the president before being found dead in his apartment on January 19.
As Dubove notes, the wiretaps included discussions about visits to the Casa Rosada by the “parallel diplomacy” leader, Luis D’Elia, who would have had to enter and exit through that main entry given that he was not a government official at the time.