Giuseppe Conte Defends Pandemic Record Before COVID-19 Inquiry Committee

More than six years after the onset of the health emergency, former Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte appeared before the parliamentary inquiry committee in Rome on August 6, 2026. The high-stakes hearing, which stretched across five hours at Palazzo San Macuto, marked a long-awaited showdown over the executive decisions made between 2020 and early 2021 as the country navigated the initial waves of the pandemic.

Conte Denounces Political Execution Squad and Challenges Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni

Stepping before the committee after months of political wrangling and delayed appearances, Conte launched an immediate counteroffensive. He dismissed the investigative panel as a political trial orchestrated by his opponents.

“Questa è davvero la volta buona.”

Giuseppe Conte, former Prime Minister

He characterized the inquiry as a politically motivated attack rather than an objective fact-finding mission, pointing directly at the current administration. Outside Palazzo San Macuto at the conclusion of the session, Conte asserted that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni served as the primary director behind the parliamentary scrutiny and a coordinated media campaign designed to undermine him.

Giuseppe Conte, Leader of the Five Star Movement, stated that people should not ask him whether the hearing went well, but rather ask Giorgia Meloni if she was satisfied, because she was the mastermind behind it all, adding that she was also the mastermind behind those attacks, the execution squad in the Covid committee, and obviously that entire media circuit relying on friendly print and television outlets that had been slinging mud for some time to target him.

In response, the office of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended the legitimacy of the inquiry, emphasizing that the parliamentary work represents an essential duty toward a nation that endured heavy losses during the crisis.

Anonymous Dossier on JC Electronics Mask Contracts Handed to Rome Prosecutors

The hearing took an unexpected turn when Conte announced that he had deposited a ten-page anonymous dossier with the Rome Public Prosecutor’s Office. According to statements delivered during his testimony, the document arrived via an anonymous letter just days prior to the hearing.

Conte stated that the file raises fresh questions regarding a contested personal protective equipment contract involving JC Electronics.

Utilizing conditional phrasing during his remarks, Conte argued that the newly submitted papers warranted judicial scrutiny regarding the validity and filtering efficacy of the masks stored at facilities in Pomezia. Representatives for JC Electronics, based in Colleferro, pushed back immediately against the claims. The company asserted that the referenced document had already been presented during previous legal proceedings by the state alongside the commissioner’s dossier, emerging cleared by judicial review while retaining favorable rulings from INAI and the Customs Agency.

Defending Pandemic Decrees, Lockdowns, and State of Emergency Decisions

During his extensive testimony, Conte defended his administration’s deployment of Prime Ministerial Decrees, known as DpCMS, arguing they represented the most effective legal instrument available to combat a rapidly spreading virus. He maintained that the declared state of emergency was entirely necessary and noted that subsequent extensions under Mario Draghi’s administration proceeded without similar public outcry.

Addressing members from across the political spectrum, Conte rejected accusations of executive overreach, insisting that his government prioritized transparency and public accountability during an unprecedented global crisis.

The parliamentary inquiry session concluded after five hours of questioning, with the committee scheduling the continuation of Conte’s hearing for September 14, 2026.