The ‘Begoña Gómez case’ closes another round of interrogations without significant progress

The case against Begoña Gómez, wife of Pedro Sánchez, is entering a new phase. The statement on Thursday by businessman Juan Carlos Barrabés, who denied before Judge Juan Carlos Peinado any type of irregularity in his professional relationship with the wife of the President of the Government, closes a series of interrogations that the accusations hoped would be fruitful. But, of the five people (two defendants and three witnesses, including the head of the Executive himself) who have appeared before the investigating judge since Monday, none have revealed any new significant clues. So, while waiting to see if Peinado makes any relevant decision in the middle of August, a month in which judicial activity usually declines, the parties are studying what steps to take now and what to expect from the case.

“It is very difficult to predict what will happen in this procedure,” said Antonio Camacho, Begoña Gómez’s lawyer, last Tuesday after Sánchez appeared before the judge, when he invoked his right not to testify in an investigation against his wife. Sources from the defense insist that, three months after the case began, there is still no evidence of influence peddling and corruption in the businesses being investigated. The popular accusations do not share this idea. One of them, the ultra-Catholic group Hazte Oír, states that “there is still an investigation to be carried out.”

Waiting for two witnesses. The parties are now summoned to August 26, the date set by the judge to question two new witnesses: Leticia Lauffer, former director of a subsidiary of Globalia, the group that owns Air Europa —a company rescued by the Government in 2020—; and Luis Ciprés, a member of Barrabés’ business group. Marta Castro, a lawyer for Vox, described Ciprés’ future statement as “transcendental” on Thursday, after no progress was made this week. “We are going to wait for the witnesses to testify and we will see if there are greater implications,” says the lawyer for Hazte Oír in view of the possibility of requesting the indictment of the President of the Government, who is protected by the Supreme Court.

Pending resources. The defence and the prosecution have a date marked in red on their calendar: next September 30. The Provincial Court of Madrid, which already delimited the investigations in May, has set that date for the deliberation, vote and ruling of a series of appeals filed against the investigation. Begoña Gómez’s lawyer is confident that this court will order Peinado to close the case and, in this way, put an end to a “prospective” investigation – prohibited by law. For its part, after denouncing the “procedural drift” and “uncertainty” that reigns in the summary, the public prosecutor has requested that, at least, the magistrate be required to specify which facts he is investigating and exclude, for example, the part relating to Globalia as long as “truly incriminating” evidence does not emerge.

The complaints against Peinado. The High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM), which will have to study the complaint filed by the State Attorney’s Office against Judge Peinado for prevarication, has already formed the court that will decide whether to admit it for processing. But, according to sources from the institution, this decision will not come until at least September – before that, it is also expected that the Prosecutor’s Office will rule on the matter. The list of judges who will make the final decision are Jesús María Santos; Celso Rodríguez, president of the TSJM and one of the judges who gave the green light to the complaint filed against the Prosecutor’s Office by the boyfriend of Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP), the president of the Community of Madrid, for distributing a press release that denied a hoax spread by the Popular Party leader’s team after learning of the tax fraud case opened against her partner; and Francisco José Goyena, the judge who has asked the Supreme Court to investigate the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, for that case.

The Madrid High Court is still pending a decision on whether to admit another complaint against Peinado, filed by journalist Máximo Pradera for alleged disclosure of secrets – for having reported, through the institution’s press office, some details of the case before the secrecy of the proceedings was lifted, and for having provided Vox with part of the investigations in that same period.

The ultras are trying to open other fronts. More than three months after the case was launched, no evidence of any crime has been found so far. Faced with this, the extremist groups that are promoting the accusation are trying to open new fronts against Begoña Gómez, which the justice system has yet to resolve. The pseudo-union Manos Limpias sent the judge a letter accusing the president’s wife of a new crime: professional intrusion. For its part, the ultra-Catholic group Hazte Oír filed a new complaint against her for allegedly “appropriating” a software of the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), for which he is accused of disloyal administration, misappropriation, embezzlement and intrusion. Hazte Oír’s lawyer, José María Pérez-Roldán, explains that this second complaint fell to a court that has already forwarded it to Peinado, who must now decide whether to take it on as well.

Against Sanchez. Following Sánchez’s complaint against Peinado, the far-right groups are trying to counterattack. Vox, Hazte Oír and Iustitia Europa, all of them accused in the case against Begoña Gómez, have announced that they will file complaints against the President of the Government for having used the State Attorney’s Office to denounce the investigating judge.