Spain’s justice minister said Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s wife Begoña Gómez broke no rules in hiring an assistant as he testified on Wednesday in a corruption investigation against her, legal sources said.
The year-long saga is one of several graft probes involving Sánchez’s family and allies that have embarrassed his leftist government, although no formal charges have been made.
Sánchez has denounced the allegations as a smear campaign by the conservative and far-right opposition, which has pounced on them to demand his resignation.
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Gómez is accused of using a member of staff employed by the prime minister’s office for her private professional activities as an assistant and thereby embezzling public funds.
Justice Minister Félix Bolaños testified as a witness before judge Juan Carlos Peinado at the prime minister’s office in Madrid, Moncloa Palace.
He said the post of assistant to the prime minister’s wife had already existed, but unlike previous spouses, Gómez only employed one, legal sources said.
The hiring was completed in accordance with the law, Bolaños added during more than two hours of questioning, according to the sources.
Bolaños, also the minister responsible for the prime minister’s office, said he did not know the assistant before her hiring, played no role in her recruitment and was never her boss, the sources added.
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Peinado launched an investigation into Gómez in April last year after complaints submitted by groups with far-right ties, Manos Limpias (“Clean Hands”) and Hazte Oir (“Make Yourself Heard”).
They say Gómez used her husband’s position as leverage in her business affairs, including to benefit a course she ran at Madrid’s Complutense University.
Peinado has continued his investigation even after two Civil Guard reports said no crime had been committed and a request by prosecutors to shelve it.
Sánchez’s brother and a former government heavyweight also face corruption allegations, providing more woes for the premier in the post since 2018 whose minority administration struggles to pass legislation.
