Ester Muñoz, spokesperson for the Popular Group in Congress, denied this Friday that the PP had offered money to Koldo García to provide information against Pedro Sánchez, and maintained that that route "was not necessary."
The PP leader made this statement in an interview on Antena 3, reported by Europa Press, after the former advisor to the Ministry of Transport, sentenced to 19 years in prison in the mask case, claimed that the party had offered him a payment in exchange for data to undermine the President of the Government.
Muñoz insisted that her party "never" offered "any kind of money to absolutely anyone" for providing information about Sánchez or about the "corrupt practices" that, she said, surround his family, his Government, and his political party.
The popular spokesperson justified her response by stating that judges have already investigated the case, several people have been prosecuted, some have been convicted, and the proceedings are still open. This argument, however, does not by itself prove the origin or scope of the accusation made by García.
The PP connects the accusation with Koldo and Ábalos's move before the Constitutional Court
Muñoz also linked these statements to the amparo appeal filed before the Constitutional Court by both Koldo García and former minister José Luis Ábalos, in which they request that the sentence in the mask case be annulled.
In the spokesperson's opinion, that court "often acts at the behest of the Government and Pedro Sánchez." The statement is part of the PP's confrontation strategy, but it does not currently alter the procedural fact that the appeal exists and is formulated in those terms.
The popular leader added that it is not the first time that García, in his narrative, uses "tricks" of that type, and reiterated that the PP has not needed to pay anyone to accuse the President of the Government.
Socialists under pressure to make a move
In the final part of her intervention, Muñoz directed pressure towards the PSOE. She maintained that, "instead of defending themselves by attacking," socialists must file the lawsuits they said they would file, including those announced against Leire Díez, and cooperate with justice.
For now, the dispute remains in the realm of cross-accusations, while the masks case continues to generate political and judicial effects and the debate shifts between what each party claims and what the courts still have to resolve.