Hernando (PSOE) admits that he was offered information from the patriotic police against Pedro Sánchez and his daughters

MadridThe Secretary of State for Telecommunications, Antonio Hernando, also a former deputy to Pedro Sánchez's chief of staff, admitted to the judge on Monday that he met with Leire Díez, the so-called "fixer" of the PSOE (now a former member), to discuss the documentation they had regarding the activities of the "patriotic police" against him. Hernando, who testified as a witness, also explained that he was told these police officers had been monitoring Sánchez's family before he took office, according to legal sources consulted by Europa Press. What he did not clarify is whether this meeting took place just before the Spanish Prime Minister took five days to reflect on whether or not to resign in the spring of 2024, in the midst of the Catalan election campaign. Hernando testified in the case overseen by Judge Arturo Zamarriego, which is investigating Díez, businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, and journalist Pere Rusiñol for allegedly seeking compromising information on Civil Guard officers and judges in exchange for favors. However, Leire Díez's version of events has always been that she was working on a journalistic investigation related to the inquiries of the so-called "patriotic police" into Catalan independence and the left. After Hernando testified this Monday in Madrid's Plaza de la Castilla, it was the turn of Santos Cerdán, former PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) organizational secretary, who also appeared as a witness in this case. Both were scheduled to testify at 10:30 a.m., but while Hernando arrived an hour and a half early to avoid the press, Cerdán arrived right on time for his testimony. Hernando's testimony on Monday corroborates one of the details Pérez Dolset provided in his statement as a suspect: that Hernando, who at the time was deputy director of the Spanish Prime Minister's office, was present at one of the meetings the businessman attended.