Ábalos hints that Jessica Rodríguez conspired with Aldama: "I am convinced that they have coerced her"

Madrid"A high-profile case judged long ago with a clear conviction." This is how José Luis Ábalos has summarized the mask case, which has been on trial for a month at the Supreme Court. The former Minister of Transport, who has been in Soto del Real prison for five months, is the last of the accused to testify, after Víctor de Aldama and Koldo García did so last week. The former strongman of Pedro Sánchez, who has boasted on more than one occasion about having thoroughly studied the case from prison, began by answering the prosecutor's questions and took the opportunity to harshly criticize the businessman and alleged fixer of the plot. "He does nothing but deepen the farce and the permanent imposture," he denounced, alluding to a letter that Aldama claims to have delivered to Juan Guaidó in the summer of 2019. "The letter is false, it is not signed by me. A ministry protocol folder is placed to give it solemnity as if we were in the Middle Ages; it does not exist," he added.

One of the facts under suspicion is the hiring of Jéssica Rodríguez, who was Ábalos' partner between October 2018 and November 2019, in two public companies without her going to work. "As a person who loved her, I am convinced that she does not say this if she has not been coerced. She cannot incriminate herself if she has not previously been told 'say this and nothing will happen to you.' No one says she didn't work when she clocked in every day," he stated. He also recalled that although she –when she testified as a witness– said she did not know Aldama, it was he who introduced them. And he complained that his "privacy has been shattered" and he is "grist for the mill" because of this relationship.

He also denied having any knowledge that she was not working: "She told me about Joseba [Koldo's brother, who was her supervisor] and about the meetings, and that she worked on the computer. It wasn't a fascinating topic to talk about, it wasn't a job to dwell on, it wasn't very interesting," he explained. And he said that he did not receive "any indication" that she was "uncomfortable." "There I discovered the word ghosting, I didn't know what it meant, she told me," he recounted about his "abrupt" breakup with Jéssica Rodríguez. It was an extramarital relationship that "could not continue." "It was a very difficult year, with the risk of a public scandal, which I have not avoided and which has served for all sorts of mockery," he lamented.

The other alleged nepotism that is being judged is that of Claudia Montes. Ábalos has denied having "any personal link" with her and has limited their relationship to a photo she asked him for on the street before a PSOE event and after she visited him because she was doing a training course. She contacted him through social media and Ábalos provided her with sources of information where she could turn. "I did not speak to anyone to hire her, not at all," he stressed.

The purchase of masks

José Luis Ábalos has also denied irregularities in the purchase of masks. Two contracts from Adif and Puertos del Estado to Soluciones de Gestión, the company at the epicenter of the alleged scheme, are under suspicion. He said that he did not know of "any offer" - but he knows there were "several" - and that he had no dealings with "anyone", he stressed that his concern was "to be defrauded" and he reiterated that his "only obsession" was to obtain sanitary material: "The privilege was to find a supplier". However, he admitted that Victor de Aldama visited the ministry in those days and expressed "conviction" that he had "information" about the purchases being designed, but assured that he did not speak with the businessman. And he recalled that they told him not to publish the order with "haste" until there were offers from suppliers: "The pre-selection, I'm not saying there was one, could be done perfectly and is legal." "It was a success, there were no supply problems," he claimed.

How did you meet Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama?

The interrogation began by describing his relationship with Koldo García, who was his loyal squire in both the PSOE and the Ministry of Transport. "To the extent that he was participating in my intimacy and my personal life, personal bonds are generated," he summarized. They both met during the PSOE primaries that Pedro Sánchez won. When he was appointed Secretary of Organization of the party, he needed a driver with "full availability" who would work "uninterrupted hours" and chose Koldo to accompany him 24 hours a day. Later, to thank him for his "time of dedication and loyalty," he appointed him advisor within the minister's cabinet.

He also tried to remember the day he met Víctor de Aldama, the third defendant in the trial. The alleged facilitator of the scheme faces lower prison sentences for his cooperation with justice. "I have nothing to celebrate and it's difficult for me to remember it," José Luis Ábalos quipped. He placed the date in the last quarter of 2018, "possibly" in September or October, but denied it was August 31, as the businessman said, since he was in London with his ex-wife and children.