The Government has responded this Friday to the indictment of Juan Manuel Serrano, former chief of staff to Pedro Sánchez and former president of Correos, with a message of calm, respect for Justice and collaboration with the investigation. The reaction has been accompanied by a political reply to the Popular Party, which has tried to place the progress of the 'Leire Díez case' at the doors of La Moncloa while the National Court again puts the focus on María Dolores de Cospedal for operation Kitchen.
Minister Óscar López has assured that he faces Judge Santiago Pedraz's decision with "absolute tranquility" and has defended that the PSOE "is acting and will act" in response to any judicial requirement. "There is nothing to fear," said the Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function before rejecting the comparison promoted by Génova between the investigation into Serrano and the parapolice espionage of former popular treasurer Luis Bárcenas.
The Government spokesperson, Elma Saiz, avoided going into the merits of the evidence collected by the Civil Guard and recalled that the procedure is in "a very embryonic phase". Saiz reiterated the Executive's "total" and "maximum collaboration" with the courts and called for prudence while the agreed proceedings are carried out.
The two procedures are at different judicial stages. Serrano has just acquired the status of investigated and maintains his presumption of innocence intact. The Kitchen trial, for its part, is in its final stretch after years of investigation, although the new actions against Cospedal could lead to a separate case if the Police find criminal evidence.
Pedraz authorizes examination of Serrano's phone
The National Court judge Santiago Pedraz has agreed to investigate Serrano after the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office backed the request of the Civil Guard's Central Operative Unit. The magistrate has also allowed agents to access the content of his mobile phone to reconstruct his communications with Leire Díez and with other implicated parties in the case.
The UCO attributes to Sánchez's former collaborator a "preeminent participation" in the two lines that structure the investigation. One affects possible irregularities in contracts and appointments within public companies. The other examines alleged maneuvers aimed at obtaining information about judicial investigations affecting the PSOE or the Government.
The investigators focus on the hiring of Díez at Correos and on the promotion he received within the public company during Serrano's presidency. The police report maintains that this incorporation could have responded to a "strategic" purpose and includes a high volume of messages between the two via WhatsApp and Signal.
A central part of the investigation is set in April 2024, after Pedro Sánchez published the letter in which he announced that he was temporarily suspending his agenda to reflect on his continuity. On April 26, Serrano and Díez participated in a meeting in Ferraz with the then socialist organization secretary, Santos Cerdán. The judge considers that meeting a "turning point" within the investigated activity.
Díez and businessman Javier Pérez Dolset would have brought to the socialist headquarters several audios in which José Manuel Villarejo and former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez spoke about the sauna business linked to the president's father-in-law. Days later, Serrano and Díez began to communicate via Signal and wrote that "this man must be helped," referring to Sánchez.
The status of investigated now allows Serrano to appear assisted by a lawyer, access the proceedings that affect him, and offer his version of the facts. The judicial decision does not yet imply a formal accusation or determine that he has committed any crime.
The PP points to Sánchez and the Government responds with Kitchen
The Popular Party has taken advantage of the indictment to increase direct pressure on the head of the Executive. Miguel Tellado has defined Serrano as "a purebred sanchista" and "intimate friend" of the president, whom he accuses of having used Correos to "co-finance the sewer" along with Cerdán.
The popular general secretary concluded his message with a direct attack on Sánchez. "P.S. warm up, you're next," he wrote. The parliamentary spokesperson Ester Muñoz has stated that "the circle is closing in" and has warned that "their exits are running out," before assuring that the socialists are now "more dangerous than ever."
Óscar López has replied that the PP seeks to "create a tie that is absurd" between the Leire case and Operation Kitchen. The minister recalled that the latter investigates the alleged use of police officers, slush funds, and other public resources to spy on Bárcenas and recover documentation that could compromise the Popular Party due to its parallel accounting.
The government's argument comes on the same day that the Audiencia Nacional has ordered new proceedings regarding Cospedal's conversations with Villarejo. The PSOE has taken advantage of this coincidence to shift the focus to Génova and demand explanations from Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
Ferraz maintains that Kitchen represents "the biggest institutional corruption scandal" of democracy and accuses the former popular government of using state resources to protect the party from the consequences of Gürtel and the slush fund. "The 'little notebook' leads to Génova," socialist sources have stated.
The Audiencia Nacional looks again towards Cospedal
Judge Antonio Piña has instructed the Internal Affairs Unit of the National Police to review the material seized from Villarejo and determine if there are possible "indications of criminality" in his conversations with Cospedal and with Ignacio López del Hierro, husband of the former secretary general of the PP at the time of the events.
The analysis will include recordings, emails, and possible economic movements related to the operation. The resolution also incorporates several audios released during 2025 in which Cospedal spoke with the former commissioner about Bárcenas's documentation and about Sergio Ríos, the former treasurer's driver who was recruited as a police informant and received payments from slush funds.
In one of the conversations, the former popular leader stated that Mariano Rajoy had told her that documentation of the former treasurer had been found and that they had "cleaned up everything he had." In another, Villarejo proposed Ríos's entry into the Police to prevent any "loose ends" from remaining. The driver subsequently joined the force.
Cospedal was investigated during an earlier stage of the case, although the procedure against her was archived and she ended up testifying as a witness during the trial. The new decision also does not imply her immediate indictment. If the police examination discovers elements with criminal relevance, the Audiencia Nacional could open a separate piece because the main hearing of Kitchen is practically concluded.
The Prosecutor's Office requests 15 years in prison for former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz for his alleged participation in the operation and maintains that the device was organized to steal documents from Bárcenas that could harm the PP. The trial must determine the responsibilities of the accused in the operation, while the new proceedings will try to clarify the extent of the popular leadership's knowledge.
The PSOE has demanded that Feijóo stop "hiding" and explain his party's position on the new audios. Génova had distanced itself during the trial and defended that the current PP was not that of Kitchen or Gürtel, although for now it has not offered a specific response to the latest actions regarding Cospedal.
Meanwhile... Cristina Narbona will testify next July 15
The 'Leire Díez case' will continue next week with the testimony of Cristina Narbona. The president of the PSOE was scheduled to appear this Friday, but Pedraz has postponed the appointment until July 15 due to the recent death of her mother.
The UCO incorporated into the summary a conversation from April 2024 in which Leire Díez proposed to Narbona the possibility of "redirecting" the attacks against Sánchez and offering "qualified help". The socialist president responded that the matter had already been discussed with Santos Cerdán and has assured that she never had knowledge of the activities now being investigated by the Audiencia Nacional.
Pedraz has also withdrawn the status of investigated from two administrative workers of the PSOE considering that there is not enough evidence that they knew the purpose of the actions they carried out. Both will appear as witnesses on July 28 and must provide the communications maintained with Díez, Cerdán, Serrano and the party's manager, Ana María Fuentes.
The manager remains under investigation, although the judge has so far refused to analyze her phone. He has also ruled out accessing the mobile phone of Civil Guard Captain Juan Sánchez Yepes. The next round of statements will begin on July 15 with Narbona, Diego Villafañe, and Beatriz López at the Audiencia Nacional.
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