The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has “unanimously” rejected the complaint by the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, against Judge Juan Carlos Peinado. The magistrates have not accepted for processing the complaint of the head of the Executive – presented by the State Attorney’s Office on his behalf -, which accused the investigating judge of prevarication for forcing him to testify in person in the case opened against his wife, Begoña Gómez, accused of influence peddling and business corruption.
The expectations of La Moncloa
This resolution of the regional TSJ, linked to the decision of the Madrid Court to keep Judge Peinado’s instruction alive, destroys part of the offensive deployed by La Moncloa. Neither the provincial court has closed the investigation against Gómez, as requested by his defense, nor has the TSJ admitted the complaint of the President of the Government against the magistrate for processing. Even so, they still have another bullet in the chamber: this same regional court must rule on another second complaint filed by Sánchez’s wife against Peinado (in this case, for crimes of prevarication and revelation of secrets).
Despite everything, the socialists have a long judicial ordeal ahead of them, which is joined by the political front promoted by the PP in the Madrid Assembly. The popular members of this community, led by the regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, have approved summoning Begoña Gómez to testify in the investigation commission opened in the Chamber to investigate whether the president’s wife received “favorable treatment” as a result of her relationship with the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), where she directed two master’s degrees and a professorship.
Since the opening of the investigations on April 16, the opposition has attacked the Executive, which has tried to defend itself—insisting that the case against Gómez has no basis. The Government has even crossed its own red lines by openly criticizing the investigating judge and, last week, the minister spokesperson Pilar Alegría distorted the ruling of the Madrid Court that refused to file the case. Alegría assured that the court indicated that there was “a prospective investigation.” It’s false.
