Conte tells Covid commission it is a 'firing squad' against him, attacks €100M mask settlement with JC Electronics

Conte's testimony

Giuseppe Conte, former prime minister and leader of the Five Star Movement (M5S), appeared before the parliamentary Covid inquiry commission on 6 August 2026, more than six years after the pandemic began. He opened by swearing to tell the truth on his honor, saying that honor meant respect for himself, for those who lost their lives during the pandemic, for their families, and for healthcare workers. Conte declared he had nothing to hide and had committed no wrongdoing. The hearing lasted over five hours, with roughly three hours of Conte's own report followed by two hours of questions from commission members.

Conte characterized the commission as a "firing squad" aimed at him while serving as a protective shield for local administrators of the majority parties. He directly accused Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of orchestrating the attacks.

You should not ask me whether today's hearing went well, you should ask Giorgia Meloni if she is satisfied, because she was the director of all this.

The JC Electronics document

Conte presented a 10-page anonymous document, dated 14 April 2022, concerning masks supplied by JC Electronics Italia S.r.l. He said he received it anonymously with names redacted but qualifications visible, and had already delivered it to the Rome prosecutor's office on Monday. According to Conte, the document suggested that batches stored at a depot in Pomezia, including a lot of 7,857,000 pieces, lacked filtering efficacy and bore counterfeit representations. Conte argued this document could have overturned the legal dispute with the company.

Conte used the document to attack a €100 million settlement the Meloni government signed with JC Electronics in October 2025, calling the transaction "absolutely opaque" and demanding the government and health ministry suspend the payment immediately.

Company and commission pushback

JC Electronics issued a statement rejecting all of Conte's accusations. The company said the 10-page document was not new, had already been examined in court, and that the Rome Tribunal, in ruling no. 10918/2025 of 21 July 2025, had rejected a false-certification complaint filed by the State Advocacy Office on behalf of the prime minister's office and health ministry, ordering the government to pay legal costs. The company added that mask conformity had been confirmed by INAIL and by technical analysis conducted by the Customs Agency, proving compliance with UNI EN 149:2009. JC Electronics also cited ruling no. 17025/2024, which condemned the government to pay over €203 million in damages, a verdict that became final after the appeal was dropped.

Alice Buonguerrieri, Fratelli d'Italia group leader in the commission, echoed the company's position, telling Conte the document had already been assessed by the judiciary with the opposite outcome from what he described. Galeazzo Bignami said the examination would continue in September. Lucio Malan, FdI Senate group leader, criticized Conte for distancing himself from the vaccine mandate introduced by the Draghi government while M5S parliamentarians had recently criticized an amendment removing sanctions for non-compliance.

Next steps

The next hearing was scheduled for 14 September. Conte said he would return in September, October, and November if needed. He also said he never used the substitute powers of the State, describing this as a conscious political choice agreed with all ministers.