The People's Party returns to 2017 and revives the Russian plot in Congress.

MadridThe day after Junts announced its break with the PSOE, and while in the press room of Congress the PP spokesperson, Ester Muñoz, was facing questions from journalists about a hypothetical motion of censure with the support of the junts, in the same building, just a few meters away, a parliamentary committee has jumped back in time. The PP parliamentary spokesperson at that time, when Mariano Rajoy governed, was in charge of reviving this Tuesday in the lower house the Russian plot of the Proceso, when the investigation of this alleged conspiracy between Carles Puigdemont's entourage and Vladimir Putin's Russia It has been months since it definitively derailed the courts.

The PP, alone, has summoned journalist David Alandete, correspondent in Washington for theAbc and COPE, in the joint committee on national security. One of the reasons for calling him was that he is the author of the book The Russian plot, which recounts all the facts "about the alliance between the Catalan independence movement and the Kremlin." Alandete's intervention, in which he said that the "investigation into this matter" should be "reopened" through judicial channels, ended up provoking a tense confrontation with Junts MP Josep Pagès, who accused him of being a "liar" and a "manipulator exploited by the PP." "You didn't come to inform, you came to contaminate. That's why the PP brought you in. For us, you are to journalism what [Judge Joaquín] Aguirre is to the judiciary: a black hole," said Pagès, who recommended that Alandete "abandon his obsession" with this "falsehood."

Alandete defended himself by denouncing an "attack on the press" by Pagès. "I would never have imagined being insulted as a journalist in a parliamentary seat," reproached the Washington correspondent, who only ten days ago had another public confrontation with another politician. Specifically, with the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, who called him in X a "patriot ofAbc with accreditation to ask questions at the White House." Alandete asked US President Donald Trump about Spain's controversial role in NATO. Aside from replying to Puente that his question was pertinent (and that he doesn't ask it "every day," as the minister said), the journalist said in several interviews that he had "previously."

Alandete has reiterated this accusation in response to the questioning of his account of the Russian plot in the Proceso by MPs from the PSOE, Sumar, ERC, and EH Bildu, who have accused him of acting as a "political actor" in the committee. "If Puigdemont decides he can talk to Russia about declaring independence, the public has the right to know. They've called a judge crazy here. A judge! I haven't even seen anything like this happen in Turkey. They're like Trump. It's truly alarming," the journalist said. Hernando has come to his defense—the PP MP has said that there are "dark interests that put national security at risk" in the alleged Russian plot—and has agreed to denounce the attacks on journalism.

However, the MP has done so by criticizing the attempt to ban far-right agitators like Vito Quiles from entering Congress. Just this morning, another incident occurred during the press conference of Verónica Martínez Barbero, the spokesperson for Sumar (Sumar) in Congress, when one of the members tried to ask a question without having a question time. In any case, the committee concluded without Alandete responding to the PSOE's questioning of whether he believes Puigdemont "has committed a crime of high treason." The PP spokesperson, speaking in the press room, also did not clarify whether they would seek the support of the Junts leader for a vote of no confidence.