Daniela Santanché: A Political Survivor Navigating Legal Storms
Rome – Hats and rancher boots, Daniela Santanché seems designed, conceived at a table to drive the left crazy. But one must acknowledge her, she’s a phenomenal fundraiser: “Every crisis is a trench.”
In four years of government, she has collected three votes of no confidence, all promptly rejected by the center-right. Some have counted those submitted by her in the past as an opposition member: there are 18. Controversies are escalating, in parallel with the legal proceedings involving her.
The Visibilia Case and Allegations of Fraud
Starting with the Visibilia case, for which she is on trial in Milan for false accounting, together with her partner Dimitri Kunz: the accounts of the publishing company, of which she was director, would have been falsified to hide losses.
Accusations of Fraud Against the INPS
More politically damaging, however, is the other accusation, that of alleged fraud against the INPS. This concerns the years of Covid, 2020, and 2021. When, according to the accusation, a redundancy fund was requested (and obtained) for employees who in reality had not stopped working. Everything is currently frozen pending a preliminary hearing: a conflict of attribution raised by the Senate to the Constitutional Court regarding the use of certain acts weighs heavily.
Long times, with the risk of prescription looming. But in the meantime, new investigations are emerging, such as the one accusing her of bankruptcy related to Ki Group, a company dealing with organic products, of which she was president from 2019 to 2021. New lines of inquiry and, always, controversy. With the opposition attacking and growing embarrassment also within her majority.
A History of Political Maneuvering
For a long time, it has been said that Giorgia Meloni would have appreciated her resignation. And for a long time the talks between the two have been reduced to a minimum, or even less. In addition to the lightning strikes of political opponents, the “Pythoness” has also been the target of numerous different attacks: from Islamic fundamentalists for her outbursts on the role of women, to porn stars who accuse her of being the main promoter of the ethical tax (or porn tax) of 2006. She, doesn’t flinch, moves forward without giving the sensation, ever, of being touched by the storms. She knows she is a pop figure, Fedez and Marracash even sing about her. Is she crucified on social media? She sues. Sometimes mistakenly: recently she asked for almost 60 thousand euros from a disabled pensioner.
Her political history is linked to Ignazio La Russa. The then strongman of Alleanza Nazionale in Lombardy recognized the dynamism and character of the Cuneo communicator. In 1995 he made her a close collaborator. In 1997 he wanted her as a super consultant for fashion for assessor Serena Manzin, in the first Albertini junta in Milan: in 1990 she had founded her company, Dani Comunicazione. It could happen, talking to her on the phone in those years, to hear in the background the thunders of today’s President of the Senate: “Dani, hang up. You don’t have to talk to journalists…”.
Two years later she was elected councilor in the Province of Milan. But she was already a partner of Flavio Briatore, a friend for life, in the Billionaire in Porto Cervo. Later came the Twiga in Forte dei Marmi. In 2022, that activity triggered opposition the moment of her appointment as Minister of Tourism: “Conflict of interest”. There were, in fact, new rules on beach concessions involved. She ended up giving up the shares.
The following year, the first major campaign as minister, “Welcome to meraviglia” was riddled with criticism, and it was also talked about by Cnn, Guardian and Reuters with not always flattering comments. She, doesn’t flinch: “It’s from the most essential advertiser in Italy.”
Meanwhile, Dani comunicazione has become Visibilia, with all its subsidiaries. Those from which all her legal troubles then originated. Visibilia will be sold to her partner Dimitri Kunz, before being sold to Luca Reale Ruffino in March 2023, who will commit suicide less than six months later. But the investigations into the company will become increasingly pressing.
From a political point of view she is restless. Even in Alleanza Nazionale, as she will then be in Fratelli d’Italia, she is considered an exuberant character. In 2007, Santanché left An for the Destra of Francesco Storace: she will be a candidate for prime minister in the 2008 elections. The following year she was among the co-founders of the Movimento per l’Italia with Denis Verdini. In 2010 she joined the Popolo della libertà: she became undersecretary. Then there’s Forza Italia, but that’s not really her world: and in 2017 she joins Fratelli d’Italia, of which she will become responsible in Lombardy.
