Colombian court halts investigation into presidential campaign funds

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Thursday stopped an electoral body from investigating accusations of illicit campaign financing and unreported spending by President Gustavo Petro, delivering a legal victory to the beleaguered left-wing leader.

The court ruled that only Congress can investigate alleged irregularities in the financing of Petro’s 2022 campaign. Petro has denied any financial impropriety.

The ruling scraps a probe by the National Electoral Council into whether Petro’s campaign exceeded fundraising limits by about $1.2 million and whether it accepted funds from labor organizations, which is banned by Colombian law.

The council is an administrative body that supervises the electoral process and oversees campaign financing. It can also impose administrative sanctions, such as hefty fines against campaign staffers.

The court ordered the electoral council to refer its investigation to Colombia’s House of Representatives.

It’s unclear whether lawmakers will advance the case. Although Petro often clashes with Congress, lawmakers have never removed a Colombian president from office, even in the face of intense public pressure when investigators in 1996 demonstrated then-President Ernesto Samper’s ties to drug cartel financing.

Petro fiercely criticized the electoral council as politically motivated, opening another front in his battles against the country’s courts, which have overturned some of his key decrees and appointments.

The officials on the electoral council planned to examine campaign contributions by unions of public school teachers and oil workers, among others, citing a dozen financial transactions Petro’s campaign had allegedly failed to report.

On Thursday, Petro applauded the court’s decision.

“Well done to the Constitutional Court,” he posted on social media platform X.

This was just the latest in a swirl of scandals over the financing of Petro’s campaign.

The Attorney General’s office has also been investigating Petro’s son Nicolás over allegations that the campaign took funds from criminal sources, including a notorious former drug trafficker.