Overview
- The forensic examination by Gendarmería of 58 audio files provided on a Kingston pendrive began when the sealed envelope was opened on Aug. 26 at Edificio Centinela and the technical study is currently under way.
- Spagnuolo’s lawyers asked Judge Ariel Lijo to suspend the peritaje and to exclude the pendrive from analysis, arguing the device was never formally inventoried and that there is no acta of content, no file inventory and no cryptographic hash proving the files’ integrity.
- The pendrive was handed to prosecutors by journalist Mauro Federico on Aug. 28, 2025 and the defense notes the court record shows the device was not formally remitted to the juzgado until July 14, 2026, a delay it says undermines chain of custody.
- Spagnuolo also refused to provide a voice sample for comparison, the judge ordered the sample and the defense has appealed that order to the Cámara Federal porteña where the matter remains pending.
- The fiscalía counters that the case does not rest only on the audios and points to independent evidence such as searches, phone records and procurement documents, while Lijo’s decision on the exclusion request and the Cámara’s ruling on the voice sample will determine the next investigatory steps.