The hearing of the M5s leader, Giuseppe Conte, before the parliamentary inquiry commission on the management of the Covid emergency has begun at Palazzo San Macuto. The session, initially scheduled for 11 a.m., was postponed by about four hours due to the prolonged work in the Chamber of Deputies. The former premier’s report will last until 6 p.m., as announced by the commission president, Marco Lisei. A question session will follow.
The focus of the hearing is the management of the pandemic, the Dpcm, the supply of masks, and the vaccination campaign. Conte will also be asked about the testimonies given in recent weeks by entrepreneurs heard by the commission, with particular attention to the consultancies paid by some companies to obtain public contracts. The most discussed case concerns a company that allegedly paid 454 thousand euros for a preliminary consultancy, a matter that raises questions about the controls exercised by Palazzo Chigi over the commissioner structure. Among the most delicate dossiers is also that of lawyer Luca Di Donna, a former colleague of Conte, whose role in the supply procedures the commission aims to clarify.
Covid Commission, hearing of Giuseppe Conte | 6/8/2026 https://t.co/QiyZLZbMvP
— Giuseppe Conte (@GiuseppeConteIT) August 6, 2026
Conte defends the use of Dpcm
The Dpcm “was adopted on the proposal of the Minister of Health, after consulting other ministries, hearing the opinion of the regions, hearing the CTS” and “it became a very agile tool, so as to intervene promptly based on the evolution of the contagion”: “it appeared to us” the most suitable tool “for the uniform application of measures, as necessary.” This was said by the leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte, during the Covid commission hearing. “The Dpcm offers a broader and more effective space for the protection of citizens. It can be challenged by an individual citizen before the TAR, and this has also happened,” he highlighted.
“Never exercised substitute powers of the State”
“We have never considered the possibility of exercising the substitute power of the State for a conscious political choice, not only functional. We preferred to maintain a constant dialogue with territorial authorities. The emergency management was handled with three pillars: the ordinances of the Ministry of Health, the declaration of the national state of emergency in the Council of Ministers, which allowed us to activate all civil protection and health assistance measures, and then the decree laws and Dpcm.” Giuseppe Conte said this in the parliamentary inquiry commission on the Covid emergency.
“Pnrr like the Maastricht Treaty”
The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (Pnrr) “is not only an economic matter. We managed to make a turning point in Europe,” said the former Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, in a hearing before the parliamentary inquiry commission on the management of the Covid emergency. “A turning point in the history of Europe that is worth as much as the Maastricht Treaty,” that is, “an intervention plan based on solidarity was introduced,” he explained.
“Italy as an international model”
“Despite the controversies, Italy has truly been a model in practice, both nationally and internationally. Our economy has proven particularly resilient precisely because of the containment measures of the contagion and a powerful intervention plan to support families and businesses,” Conte said. “It was not a temporary rebound but a recovery capacity that showed the vitality of the Italian system.” He then emphasized that the protocols for workplace safety and the economic measures adopted by the government were adopted abroad: “They were copied by Spain, France, and Greece, adopted by the European Union and the WHO as risk mitigation tools. Every time we adopted a Dpcm, the embassies translated it and spread it in foreign chancelleries.”
“Dig as much as you want, you will find nothing illegal”
“You can dig as much as you want: you will never find anything illegal as far as I am concerned, because illegal behaviors simply never existed. I have carried out my task with discipline, honor, and I do not allow anyone to cast shadows on the management of the pandemic, because these shadows you cast end up extending also to men and women of the State who fought to safeguard the national community,” said the deputy and leader of the Five Star Movement, Giuseppe Conte.
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“A media circuit built around me. Where were you?”
“You accused me of everything with questions asked here and with a misleading and distorted media circuit built outside that does not contribute to the ascertainment of the truth. Because putting myself at the center actually creates a shadow cone over everything else. Where were you during the pandemic? What did you do? Your president Giorgia Meloni called me a criminal on television shows. But what was the opposition’s contribution? Do you think an opposition force has no responsibility before the country? A few weeks ago, during an interview with Nicola Porro, Meloni said she was interested in understanding the use made of public resources,” said the M5s leader. And then: “I do not allow anyone to cast shadows on the management of the pandemic because they end up extending also to women and men of the State who fought to safeguard the national community. Not to mention the families, the victims, and the citizens who made enormous sacrifices to protect everyone’s safety, starting with the most vulnerable. I use a word very dear to some, even if here we end up obscuring its meaning: they are the true patriots, they were in the trenches. Then there are not the true patriots, but the speculators of a serious national and international tragedy. I recall and emphasize that we do not remember any useful contribution from you, from the speculators, a plausible suggestion as a gesture of responsibility for the defense of the country.”
“Irresponsible to exclude Regions from the investigation perimeter”
“You irresponsibly excluded from the perimeter of investigation of this commission the Regions that have the responsibility to manage healthcare, we could find ourselves here a hundred times but you will not allow me to enter what is a substantial aspect of the pandemic. You want to protect your administrators, the most affected regions were Veneto, Piedmont, how do we do if we do not deepen what happened at the regional level? It is a serious responsibility issue,” Conte added.
“Me afraid to speak? I do not accept lessons on this”
“The idea that I was afraid to speak in this context has been accredited: I have never been afraid, I have always operated transparently, those who speak this way do not know me. About fear, I cannot accept lessons from those who cannot give them: we saw only yesterday situations of those who are afraid, run away, defend party comrades.” Thus Giuseppe Conte. And again: “This government found 209 billion on a silver platter, left by us: it never happens. If you think there was some mistake, let’s talk about it but please let’s not talk about fear.” On employment during the Covid period: “We worked in a situation of great difficulty to try to save the country without distinguishing day from night. In 2020 we saved over 330,000 jobs thanks to the ban on layoffs that we in Italy had the courage to do, unlike other countries. The ban on layoffs is the reason why we were then able to restart with great momentum.”
“Me in the front line, others fueling controversies”
“Already during the pandemic, there were those who, instead of being in the front line fighting with us in the trenches, took refuge in sterile controversies and the most futile instrumentalizations,” emphasized the M5s leader Giuseppe Conte during his hearing in the Covid commission, reiterating once again that he wants to “report everything,” also as a matter of honor. “Honor, he deplored, that someone has instead lost.”
“Anonymous document already delivered to the Prosecutor’s Office”
“I have to file a document that I received with an anonymous letter and I delivered it on Monday to the Rome Prosecutor’s Office, it is dated April 14, 2022, it arrived with the names obscured but all the qualifications are there, it consists of ten pages” on the “delivery of masks.” The M5s leader Giuseppe Conte said this during the Covid commission hearing, emphasizing that “there is the possibility that millions of state funds were delivered to a private company, an enormous amount” “for masks not corresponding to anticipated and declared characteristics.” “Reading this, which is a report, it would emerge – Conte explains – that all the packages stored in a warehouse in Pomezia would not be masks with filtering effectiveness, the model would not correspond and there would be a falsified representation” of the leaflet.
“Finally, here we are”
“Finally, here we are… – said the M5s leader taking the floor in the hearing -. I take full legal responsibility for what I will say, I have no difficulty swearing, and also political responsibility for my conduct and my statements. But above all, I swear on my honor, out of respect for all the people who lost their lives, including healthcare workers and all those who were responsible for public safety chains. I swear on the honor that someone has already lost by taking refuge in sterile controversies and the most futile arguments, and who has not gained even by establishing this commission which, it is now clear, was conceived as a firing squad.”
