According to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, a judge has intentionally announced the date for a key court appearance for his wife “only five days before” the European elections for political reasons.
In what appears as a desperate attempt at deflecting focus from the latest scandal facing his administration, Sánchez speculates about the ‘real’ reasons for the timing of the announcement that Begoña Gómez, who is facing corruption charges, is set to testify before the judge overseeing the investigation on July 5th. In a press conference, government spokesperson Pilar Alegría repeated Sánchez’s innuendos against the judiciary.
“Neither you nor Begoña are victims of anyone,” VOX leader Santiago Abascal responded. “Spanish citizens are victims of your political corruption and the economic corruption of your government, your family and your party.”
Witnesses have been scheduled to testify starting June. Gómez—the accused in the case—is scheduled to testify on July 5th. News of Gómez’s first scheduled court appearance hit Spanish media on Tuesday. Within hours, Sánchez had responded with a letter to his supporters posted on social media, where he not only made thinly veiled accusations against the judge presiding over his wife’s increasingly damning corruption case, but also attacked his political opponents.
“What they did not achieve at the polls they intend to do spuriously,” the socialist PM wrote, calling Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the center-right Partido Popular, and Santiago Abascal, president of VOX, “promoters” of a campaign against him.
Abascal responded through his own letter posted on social media:
We are still waiting for the third letter, that of resignation. It is the only one that we will read without boredom.
Sánchez wrote a previous letter when news of the investigation into his wife first broke at the end of April. He stated that he was considering stepping down, though—unsurprisingly—he decided to remain in his prime ministerial post.
In his open letter, Sánchez warns citizens that for the rest of the EU election campaign, they will witness “a careful choreography designed by the far-right coalition to try to condition the elections and weaken the Government.”
He also defends Gómez as “a hard-working and honest woman,” and attributes the investigation into her business practices to a “crude setup” constructed by “far-right associations.”
