A political storm has erupted in Italy after investigative TV program Report revealed a 2019 photograph showing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni alongside Gioacchino Amico, a man identified by investigators as a reference figure for the Senese crime clan in Lombardy.
According to the broadcast, the photo was taken on February 2, 2019, at Milan’s Marriott Hotel during what was described as Fratelli d’Italia’s first major political event in northern Italy ahead of the European elections. Host Sigfrido Ranucci raised questions about Amico’s alleged role, describing him as a figure capable of bringing together Milan-based associates of Matteo Messina Denaro, leaders of ’Ndrangheta groups in Lombardy and members of the Roman underworld linked to the powerful Senese clan.
The program also claimed that Amico had obtained a party membership card and had access to Italy’s Chamber of Deputies through a pass that allegedly allowed him to bypass ordinary visitor checks. Parliament, however, denied that claim, stating that no permanent pass had ever been issued in his name.
Meloni forcefully rejected the allegations, accusing what she called a politically hostile media network of trying to “throw mud into the fan.” She argued that, after decades in politics, there are thousands of photographs of her with people who simply asked for a selfie. She also dismissed references made by the program to her family background, reiterating that she cut ties with her father when she was eleven years old.
The prime minister defended her government’s anti-mafia record, citing the use of the harsh prison regime known as 41-bis and the capture of more than 200 fugitives, including mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto echoed her remarks, writing on X that the photo was “nothing but mudslinging” and noting that no public figure can realistically investigate the criminal background of everyone who asks for a picture.
Opposition parties, however, said Meloni’s response was not enough. Five Star Movement lawmakers sitting on the anti-mafia and justice committees in both houses of Parliament called on the prime minister to address what they described as a “deeply troubling overall picture.” They also referred to separate allegations involving Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro and raised concerns over several government measures that, in their view, may have indirectly benefited white-collar mafia networks. Angelo Bonelli, leader of the Green and Left Alliance, urged Meloni to stop “playing the victim” and to clarify whether any relationship existed between Fratelli d’Italia and figures linked to the Senese clan, stressing that “this is not about a selfie, but about attempts to infiltrate political and institutional circles.”