Overview
- Daniel Claudio Pitón told the federal oral court on Thursday that his earlier confession in the Cuadernos case was false and made to avoid being jailed.
- He testified that staff in the late Judge Claudio Bonadio’s court rejected his lawyers’ written account and said he had to mention cash payments if he wanted to leave free.
- Pitón said he accepted blame to shield his brother José Luis, which he says resulted in his own prosecution while his brother’s was later revoked.
- He denied handing money to financier Ernesto Clarens and described his Entre Ríos company as a mid-size contractor involved in seven small local public works.
- The public recantation, a first by an accused in this trial, opens a dispute over the reliability of “arrepentido” statements and other instruction-stage evidence, and judges have not yet ruled on any changes to their use.