TVP in liquidation provided its materials to Rafał Trzaskowski’s campaign committee at very low rates. These materials were used on social media and in campaign content. The cooperation, formalized under a licensing agreement, lasted throughout the entire campaign – from February until the end of May 2025. The document obtained by Niezalezna covers most of Trzaskowski’s rallies and conventions, including the debate in Końskie.
Journalists from Niezalezna.pl and Gazeta Polska Codziennie reviewed invoices and contracts signed by the Rafał Trzaskowski Election Committee during the campaign. Niezalezna uncovered numerous alarming findings, which will be gradually published.
One of the most shocking elements is the cooperation between TVP in liquidation and individuals managing the Civic Coalition (KO) candidate’s campaign. It turns out that the scandal surrounding the debate in Końskie is just the tip of the iceberg.
A disturbing contract
On February 24, 2025, Trzaskowski’s Election Committee signed an agreement with the public broadcaster. The document bears the signatures of Grzegorz Sajór – Director of the Television Information Agency – and his deputy, Rafał Kwiatkowski, on behalf of the broadcaster. The committee was represented by its financial proxy, Łukasz Pawełek. TVP, as the producer of the signal and executor of events involving Trzaskowski, granted permission for “the exploitation of live broadcasts of speeches and meetings from February 10 to May 30, 2025.” The television agreed to allow the use of these transmissions across all of the Civic Coalition candidate’s social media platforms. According to the document, the Election Committee received “the right to use the broadcasts in real time and with delay within Poland and abroad,” as well as “the right to make edits.”
The rates for granting the committee full licensed access to the work of TVP journalists, camera operators, sound engineers, and broadcast vans sent to every rally and convention were strikingly low – PLN 2,000 net plus VAT per event. The total value of the contract was capped at PLN 147,600 gross.
Meticulous execution. The Końskie debate
TVP and Trzaskowski’s committee settled their cooperation based on monthly invoices. Their payment was preceded by email correspondence, which Niezalezna has also obtained. For instance, in an email dated June 9, 2025, a TVP employee sent a list of transmissions provided in May. The list includes the dates and times of 19 events, among them rallies and conventions in Malbork, Słupsk, Zamość, Płock, Tarnobrzeg, Ciechocinek, Kępno, Elbląg, and Ciechanów.
From a similar email sent in March, it appears that in February TVP, under the licensing agreement for PLN 8,000, provided Trzaskowski’s campaign team with footage from meetings in Gdańsk, Błonie, Sieradz, and Radom.
In March 2025, according to the invoices, TVP produced materials from 15 Trzaskowski events and shared them with Civic Coalition politicians – again, at PLN 2,000 per event.
April was of particular interest, as that’s when the Końskie debate took place. In that month alone, TVP in liquidation covered 21 Trzaskowski events, each made available to his committee under the same PLN 2,000 license. In an email dated May 12, Końskie appears on the list with the note “debate.” It is worth recalling that in late August the prosecutor’s office refused to open an investigation into whether Telewizja Polska S.A. in liquidation and Trzaskowski’s team had committed an offense related to its organization. This raises questions: Did prosecutors see the documents that are now being published? How does the National Electoral Commission (PKW) intend to account for the Civic Coalition candidate’s campaign?
TV Republika directed questions on the matter to various institutions. Inquiries were also sent to TVP in liquidation, asking whether similar contracts had been signed with any other committees and requesting details about the organization of the Końskie debate. Despite the deadline for a response, there has been no reply from TVP representatives.
No equality
The mechanism of cooperation between TVP and Trzaskowski’s election committee during the campaign has sparked outrage among experts.
“It appears that TVP produced video coverage of Trzaskowski’s campaign activities practically for free. If his team had to buy such services on the open market, a single production would cost between PLN 15,000 and 25,000. Institutions responsible for overseeing campaign financing should definitely investigate this,” said Piotr Matczuk, a political marketing expert and commentator from the Taktyka Polityki channel.
Attorney Marek Markiewicz – lawyer, journalist, and former chairman of the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT) – also shared his opinion on TVP’s involvement in Trzaskowski’s campaign and the discussed agreement.
“The contract shows that Telewizja Polska provided the entire social media campaign using footage that belonged to the broadcaster, while waiving all rights except personal ones, which in this case are irrelevant. In reality, this constitutes a hidden form of a full-fledged television campaign. On the surface, it appears to be a licensing deal, but upon closer examination, it becomes evident that Telewizja Polska effectively became the producer of the campaign,” said attorney Markiewicz.
Niezalezna also asked him how he assessed the fairness of the recent presidential campaign if the public broadcaster was deeply involved in covering one candidate’s events – Rafał Trzaskowski’s – while his main rival, Karol Nawrocki, could not count on comparable treatment.
“There’s no equality whatsoever. The public broadcaster was obliged to cover Mr. Trzaskowski’s activities within the framework of its public service mission equally for all committees. Taken as a whole, this can only be described as a serious overreach. There’s also no doubt that the agreed PLN 2,000 net fee is merely symbolic, since the real value of such services is incomparably higher,” he said.
