The Deputy Secretary of Autonomic Policy, Local Government, and Electoral Analysis of the PP, Elías Bendodo, stated on Sunday that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, is “cornered and at the end of his tether.” He accused Sánchez of “cynicism” regarding prostitution, claiming he has “enriched himself and benefited from the prostitution business of his political family,” referring specifically to his father-in-law, the father of his wife, Begoña Gómez.
Bendodo’s Criticism of Sánchez
These remarks were made by the PP’s Deputy Secretary during an event in Benalmádena, Málaga. There, he asserted that Pedro Sánchez “knows he is at the end of his tether and does not care anymore.” He labelled Sánchez as “cornered,” along with his government, asserting that the Socialist leader is “dedicated to attacking and lying.”
Bendodo further criticized Sánchez’s “attack on the judges” due to their investigations into his wife, Begoña Gómez, who faces accusations of five crimes; his brother, David Sánchez, who is set to stand trial; and the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, remarking that “he will also find himself in the dock.”
Extension of Attacks on Judges
The PP representative accused Sánchez of having “extended his campaign of attack against the judges to the international media,” insisting that this is “a result of his political and personal situation, as well as the judicial circumstances surrounding his closest aides, the government, and the Socialist party.” He referenced ongoing investigations into former PSOE Organisation Secretaries Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos in relation to the ‘Koldo case.’
Bendodo highlighted that the president’s wife is facing five charges, including “influence peddling, business corruption, misappropriation, professional intrusiveness, and embezzlement of public funds,” and stressed that his brother, under investigation, “did not even know where his workplace was.”
Independence of the Judiciary
The PP representative accused the Socialists of only favouring judges that work for them or deliver verdicts they agree with, stating that “justice is independent,” and that “the more independent justice is, the better the quality of democracy in our country,” asserted Elías Bendodo.
He also drew attention to the fact that, while “the ‘number two’ of the British government” under Labour leader Keir Starmer, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, resigned over a tax issue for which “she is not indicted,” in Spain, “the president’s wife is indicted for five crimes, his brother is on the verge of trial, and Sánchez’s only reaction is to attack the judges for doing their job.”
Investigations and Allegations
Bendodo referred to the citation of former PSOE member Leire Díez, scheduled for Monday in the Senate committee investigating the ‘Koldo case,’ following her indictment regarding audio recordings in which she allegedly offered favours to entrepreneurs with open judicial cases in exchange for sensitive information about Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Balas from the Civil Guard’s Central Operational Unit (UCO) and others.
He branded Leire Díez as the “plumber of the PSOE,” stressing that “she is under investigation for her dealings in the Socialist Party’s dirty dealings against judges, prosecutors, journalists, and the UCO.”
Bendodo stated that the PP expects the “Sanchismo plumber” to explain what was happening within the Socialist Party because, “the pipes are smelling foul and blocked by corruption.” He also challenged Leire Díez to clarify “why she was on the payroll of one of the convicted key figures in the ERE case in Andalusia,” referring to former Andalusian councillor Gaspar Zarrías, and what she knows “about the increasingly foul smell of the PSOE’s alleged irregular financing.”
Public Works and Finances
In this context, he emphasized that “there are many millions of euros in public works at stake, and this week it has become evident that the UCO is struggling to reconcile the accounts regarding what the former number two of the PSOE and company declared as donations to the PSOE and what actually left their bank accounts.”
On another note, Bendodo highlighted a report published on Sunday in ‘El Español,’ denouncing that Pedro Sánchez “was already a cynic decades ago.” He noted that while “he was a PSOE councillor in the Madrid City Council, promoting an anti-prostitution programme in the city, at the same time, his wife was managing her father’s brothels.”
Final Remarks
“In other words, Sánchez defended an anti-prostitution programme while his wife managed his father-in-law’s brothels,” Bendodo criticized, accusing Sánchez of “cynicism in every sense.” He concluded by proclaiming that “we do not deserve a Prime Minister who has enriched himself and benefited from the business of prostitution linked to his family,” while criticizing that “now” the Socialists come to talk about prohibiting prostitution.
Finally, Bendodo directed his criticism towards the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, calling him “the 40% minister,” as he “spends 40% of his time tweeting and insulting, while 40% of our country’s trains are delayed.” He lamented the “delays and chaos” currently affecting Spain’s train services.
Agencias EP
