Overview

• Fernández’s lawyers filed an almost 200-page motion asking to restart the case from scratch after the removal of Judge Julián Ercolini.
• Rafecas was randomly assigned to take over but cannot fully assume until the appeal period on Ercolini’s recusal expires, expected Tuesday.
• The petition challenges a WhatsApp chat recovered from a presidential secretary’s phone in the separate state-insurance probe as contaminated and seeks to exclude it.
• The defense requests nullification of the search of Fernández’s phone, the indictment, the questioning, the processing order, and the prosecutor’s request to send the case to trial.
• The move follows a ruling by the Federal Cassation Court that accepted Ercolini’s recusal to safeguard impartiality while ratifying his prior acts to prevent revictimization, a stance the defense contests.