such as Alberto Santofimio Botero and Eduardo Mestre, as well as journalist Alberto Giraldo, were also imprisoned as a result of the same investigation. The prosecutor also charged Samper, who insisted on his innocence. Samper said that if drug money had entered the presidential campaign, it had done so "behind his back". Subsequently, Samper declared a 90-day state of emergency, which caused some to fear a shift to the right by Samper. The defection to the United States of cartel accountant Guillermo Pallomari put a trove of documents in the hands of investigators. Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, a leader of Colombia's Catholic Church, stated in an interview that not knowing that drug money financed part of the presidential campaign was similar to not noticing an elephant entering one's living room. Since then, the events that led to drug money financing the "Samper for President" campaign have been referred to as "The Elephant". According to the Colombian Constitution, only Congress can judge the president. So, once the Prosecutor General presented the case and delivered the evidence to the Congress, it was in the hands of the latter to evaluate the evidence and determine whether Samper was directly involved in this scandal. On 26 September 1995, Samper was questioned for nine hours by Heine Mogollón, the head of the Chamber of Representatives' Accusation Commission, at Samper's own request. Afterward, Samper went on television to say that he had answered all "the lies" and vowed to serve out his term. It was considered unlikely that the commission, composed mostly of members from Samper's own party, would recommend impeachment. A greater danger was the possibility that the supreme court would allow Valdivieso to investigate Samper. On 27 September, in an apparent attempt to force Samper to resign, two bodyguards of his attorney, Antonio José Cancino, were killed, with Cancino and another bodyguard wounded. On 14 December 1995, despite the publication in the magazine Cambio of the details of Pallomari's accusations, the congressional commission voted against opening a formal investigation into the charges against Samper, although Colombian justice officials continued to investigate. On 15 March 1996, the Colombian supreme court opened an investigation into three cabinet members—Horacio Serpa, and Juan Manuel Turbay—alleged to be involved in the scandal. President of Colombia On 7 August 1994, under tight security, Samper was sworn in as president in Plaza Bolívar, Bogotá, with foreign dignitaries such as Cuban president Fidel