The Nationalist Party this evening broadcast footage taken from inside the now notorious FKK Acapulco club in Velbert, Germany which its journalist Mario Frendo entered with a hidden camera.
In the footage broadcast on Net TV this evening, Frendo is seen asking two women working at the club whether they recognised first a photo of Minister Cardona and then a photo of the minister's consultant Joe Gerada.
In the footage, the second woman, apparently one of the prostitutes working at the club, tentatively confirmed that she recognised Dr Cardona saying "Yes, I think" she has seen him, while she seemed a little more assertive about having seen Dr Gerada.
At no point did the footage show the actual photos that were presented to the women.
In comments on Twitter right after the broadcast, Dr Cardona, who has insisted he has been nowhere near the FKK Acapulco although he was at a conference in nearby Dusseldorf, lashed out at the PN, writing: "Sfida @PNmalta - komplu zidu d-doza ta' gideb - ghadduli d dettalji ha jkunu xhieda - #amateurliars #liars #shameless # fiction #7courtcases".
In another tweet Dr Cardona said, “Utter rubbish by @PNmalta - liars. @SimonBusuttil @mariofrendo lost the plot + turned local politics into a Daphne Caruana Galizia brothel.”
The accusations have been made on the blog of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and have been the talk of the town since. Dr Cardona and Dr Gerada both deny having visited the club. Dr Cardona has said he would be filing at least one libel suit against Mrs Caruana Galizia, a number that has since apparently increased to seven according to Dr Cardona's tweet.
Mario Frendo later contacted government spokesperson Kurt Farrugia on live television. Asked for his reaction to the new evidence produced by the PN, Mr Farrugia remarked, “All of Europe is looking at Malta in a positive way [after today’s informal summit of EU leaders] and you [NET TV] is the only station not doing so.”
Asked repeatedly by Frendo to confirm that Dr Cardona had been at the German brothel, Mr Farrugia insisted, “I have far more important things to do at the moment and I have no time for fake news.”
A subsequent statement issued by Dr Cardona’s ministry took the Opposition to task for its “unrelenting attacks” on Dr Cardona and Dr Gerada which, it said can hardly be understood “let alone prove Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blatant lies”.
In the statement the minister challenged the PN to produce, within 48 hours, the “supposed witness” so that she could be called to testify in the eight libel cases to be initiated against Mrs Caruana Galizia, the PN and Net News.
The ministry reiterated that the Opposition’s lies are primarily intended to attack Dr Cardona personally because of the successful work he is carrying out.