Will Montoro's political use of the Treasury really not be investigated?
The case being investigated by Tarragona judge Rubén Ruso regarding Cristóbal Montoro is limited to the fact that he tailors laws in exchange for money through the Economic Team office. The press or, much more seriously, ordering tax inspections of inconvenient journalists or politicians as a method of intimidating them. The newspaper's investigation Abc, who is the first to publish information about the shady dealings at the firm founded by Montoro, and Carles Mulet, a senator from the Compromís party who engaged in heated debates with the minister in the upper house.
However, there are many more cases that have been made public. Particularly serious is the account given by journalist Francisco Quevedo, who has recently reported that he was subjected to tax audits for having published information about Montoro and that he ended up being fired from the media outlets where he worked. The ordeal he suffered was such that he even considered suicide. Many of them, like Chicote, but also Rodrigo Rato, Juan Carlos Monedero, and Javier Tebas, plan to open legal proceedings in other courts to specifically investigate this fraudulent use of public funds.
Judge Russo has refused to expand his investigation and considers that there is no crime in the minister's access to certain information. However, the issue was not just access, but what was subsequently done with this information and the ordering of inspections of specific individuals for personal reasons. It will be interesting to see what happens when these affected parties file their complaints following the public scandal that has ensued with Montoro's indictment and the information contained in the case file. It would be incomprehensible if a specific investigation were not opened in this regard.
On the other hand, when viewed as a whole, the two cases follow the same pattern: the belief that the State and public administration are something they can freely use. There is no doubt that Montoro and his collaborators were convinced they could change laws in exchange for money and use the Tax Agency to silence inconvenient voices with complete impunity. Just as, at the same time, there was a Minister of the Interior, Jorge Fernández Díaz, who used the police to pursue political opponents, whether Catalan separatists or Podemos supporters, and to protect the People's Party (PP) from cases like that of Luis Bárcenas and Operation Kitchen. Therefore, this isn't just the individual behavior of a minister, but rather a partisan culture.