The political uproar over Argentine President Javier Milei\u2019s role in a crypto scandal has cast the spotlight on his closest adviser and gatekeeper: his sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hayden Davis, a key figure behind the Libra token \u2014 which surged then crashed on Friday night after Milei promoted it on X \u2014 bragged in a text message to another investor that he was paying Karina Milei to get the president to do his bidding, according to separate reports Tuesday by Argentina\u2019s marquee La Naci\u00f3n<\/em> newspaper and crypto industry site CoinDesk<\/em>.<\/p>\n Davis, who hasn\u2019t responded to multiple requests for comment, denied to CoinDesk that he had made payments to the president. \u00a0<\/p>\n It was also Karina who first took a meeting at the presidential palace with local crypto consultant Mauricio Novelli, who later introduced her brother to several of the parties involved in the memecoin, La Naci\u00f3n<\/em> reported Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n The token\u2019s crash and the government\u2019s botched attempts to reclaim the narrative have snowballed into the biggest scandal the libertarian has faced since taking power more than a year ago. First, it infuriated a horde of investors and then it hit the market. Argentine assets endured more volatility Tuesday as sovereign bonds performed worse than emerging market peers. The stock market, however, surged six percent after falling by a similar amount the previous day.\u00a0<\/p>\n An adviser to Karina Milei redirected Bloomberg\u2019s request for comment to Milei\u2019s chief spokesperson, who declined to comment on the news reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n Davis acknowledged in an interview with Barstool Sports<\/em> Monday that he had made money from Libra and was seeking ways to make things right. He described the situation as a botched launch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Davis said he firmly believes Milei is not corrupt, and said the money from the venture belongs to people on the President\u2019s team or whom he \u201cthought was Milei\u2019s team.\u201d<\/p>\n Milei, too, has vociferously denied knowing that his influence could cause unsuspecting investors to quickly lose money.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s all Milei and Davis seem to agree on. The two have offered conflicting accounts over what transpired.\u00a0<\/p>\n While both sides confirmed that Milei met Davis more than once in Buenos Aires, the Argentines have downplayed the relationship and denied that Davis had or has any connection to the government. Davis, meanwhile, described himself as an adviser to the president who was working on him with a \u201ctokenisation.\u201d<\/p>\n Milei\u2019s bid to diffuse the situation unraveled Monday night when local news network Todo Noticias accidentally broadcast a hot mic moment where journalist Jonatan Viale allowed Milei\u2019s adviser, Santiago Caputo, to interrupt the interview and omit a question. The seemingly rigged interview only drew more negative attention to the scandal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Karina Milei, whose official role is presidential chief-of-staff, quickly emerged as the president\u2019s most powerful adviser, accompanying him to meet Donald Trump and other world leaders abroad, while lobbying for reforms in Congress.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unlike President Milei\u2019s prolific use of social media, Karina Milei never speaks to the press and rarely talks in public outside campaign rallies. Both are scheduled to arrive in Washington Thursday where they could meet Trump on the sidelines of a conservative political event.\u00a0<\/p>\n Karina is not only Milei\u2019s top adviser and strategist, but his gatekeeper. \u201cTalk to Kari\u201d is one of the most common phrases tossed around the president\u2019s circle when it comes to accessing the man himself.<\/p>\n When reflecting on his takeaway from the memecoin debacle, Milei cited the level of access to both himself and his sister.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have decided we obviously can\u2019t keep living how we did before and allow that everybody have access to us so easily,\u201d Milei said in the Monday TV interview. \u201cSadly we have to understand that our role has to have filters.\u201d<\/p>\n by Manuela Tobias & Patrick Gillespie, Bloomberg<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n