Chega leader André Ventura reports Parliament office ransacked; documents and USB drives missing, PJ investigating

Discovery and immediate response

A cleaning worker discovered the disarray on the morning of Tuesday, 28 July, and alerted the Republican National Guard (GNR). The parliamentary security service isolated the area and notified the Judicial Police, which dispatched its National Counterterrorism Unit to conduct on-site inquiries. Assembly president José Pedro Aguiar-Branco stated he was monitoring the case in coordination with parliamentary services and that the investigation had been handed to the PJ.

Someone got into the office, vandalised the office itself and took some things.

Missing items and documents

André Ventura told journalists that personal belongings, two USB drives, and two sets of documents had disappeared. One batch concerns the inquiry commission into Luís Neves, the former PJ director, which Chega intends to create. The second batch contains political information related to the prime minister's office, gathered more than a year ago. Ventura also linked the incident to remarks he made the previous Friday about holding "relevant documents" on the current minister of internal administration.

I cannot help but make a connection between the two things. Now the investigation has to do the rest and reach some conclusion.

Security procedures and surveillance

Nightly rounds by security forces inspect whether offices are closed, yet no disturbance was detected coming from Ventura's office. The office door was not forced, according to Correio da Manhã, and a Chega source confirmed that the door was left open, which, the source said, is usual. There are no surveillance cameras inside the Assembly; exterior CCTV footage is being examined by authorities.

Deputy's early arrival under scrutiny

Surveillance footage shows Chega deputy Francisco Gomes entering the Assembly building around 7:00 am, shortly after the cleaning staff. Gomes told investigators he was heading to another office to record a TikTok video and had to pass by Ventura's office, where authorities were already present. Deputies from other parties, cited by SIC Notícias, questioned why Gomes arrived so early during the parliamentary recess and why he went directly to the party leader's office.

Political reactions

José Luís Carneiro, secretary-general of the Socialist Party, urged the judicial authorities to conduct the investigation as quickly as possible, noting that such incidents "cannot happen, regardless of the cause, origin or responsibility." He added that he always kept his own office locked when absent. Mariana Leitão, president of the Liberal Initiative, called the situation worrying and said any security failures must be identified and corrected.

The Assembly of the Republic is a space where political forces work, where many people work, and where there obviously has to be confidence in the inviolability of those spaces.

Ventura rejected any suggestion that the incident was staged, describing it as "an act of intimidation and an act of conditioning." Chega also denied a SIC Notícias report that the party had not mentioned the missing USB drive to the PJ, stating that "everything that disappeared" was detailed to the authorities.