Villarejo presents himself as a victim of Leire Díez and accuses Bárcenas of inventing "M. Rajoy"

MadridJosé Manuel Villarejo is a name that allows a bridge to be established between the Kitchen case – the alleged operation to steal compromising information about the PP's slush fund from Luis Bárcenas – and the Leire Díez case – the alleged maneuvers to "obstruct" judicial proceedings that implicate Pedro Sánchez. The retired commissioner continued testifying this morning at the trial that has been ongoing for two months about the espionage against the former PP treasurer, but before accessing the National Court, he stopped for ten minutes with journalists. Without clarifying whether he met with the so-called "plumber" of the PSOE, he presented himself as a victim: "Throughout all these years, the alleged sewers have gone against me and have tried to destroy me," he denounced. And he recalled that the socialists, who are popular accusers in the Kitchen case, are asking for more prison years than the Prosecutor's Office: "Do I reach an agreement with the PSOE and the PSOE becomes a person to give me more years in prison? Don't they realize it's stupid?" he asked ironically.

He also expressed his delight at testifying before Judge Santiago Pedraz, who is investigating the Leire case: "With great pleasure, when he asks me, I will answer all of this." And he protested about the "recordings of Javier Pérez Dolset that were incorporated into the Kitchen case: "One part of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office pursues the alleged sewers and another part of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office accepts the audios that the sewer provides to accuse me more." For now, who will have to testify as a witness is his lawyer, who has been summoned for Wednesday, July 8. One of the Civil Guard's reports indicates that Leire Díez allegedly offered Villarejo an agreement in exchange for him providing evidence against the state sewers.

Precisely this Tuesday, the Civil Guard went to the Ministry of Justice to look for documentation relating to Nervis Gerardo Villalobos, a Venezuelan ex-minister who appears in the case file because different involved parties were interested in him being granted Spanish nationality. Sources from the department headed by Félix Bolaños explain that they have handed over three files: he first made two applications through residency, which were denied – in 2020 and 2025 – and he subsequently obtained it by invoking the democratic memory law.

Bárcenas' notes

Inside the courtroom, before the tribunal and answering his lawyer's questions, José Manuel Villarejo has downplayed the annotation in Bárcenas' papers relating to "M. Rajoy" and has framed it as a "maneuver" by the former PP treasurer to defend himself: "To prepare a series of documents, present them as genuine and show them to certain media outlets. [...] He is an intellectually brilliant man because he provoked a series of political movements by implying he had documents," he said. "Therefore, apart from political utility, there is never certainty about what he noted. He prepared it to leak it later," he added.

The 2021 ruling by the National Court was also skeptical on this matter, as the former Spanish president's name appeared on one page and not on another: "In the trial [Bárcenas] declared that he prepared it to pressure the treasurer, and in the investigation [he said] that he had cleaned it up, which requires cautious evaluation." However, Villarejo admitted that María Dolores de Cospedal was "obsessed" with what the press might reveal: "They were convinced that I could prevent certain things from being published and I went along with them."

"Great interest" in the Pujols

At another time, Villarejo acknowledged that the Spanish government presided over by Mariano Rajoy "was very interested in knowing everything that affected the independence line" and "proving the illegality of Pujol's actions". He explained that one of the sources was the businessman Javier de la Rosa, who received an "important amount" of money. The commissioner advanced it to them, but they never returned it to him: "I told her, as a person close to the president, that I had advanced some money with the confidence that they would return it to me immediately, but they kept delaying it and never paid me back".

The following accused to declare has been Marcelino Martín Blas, who was head of the Internal Affairs Unit. He is the one who assured Congress that

Marcelino Martín Blas says he knew nothing about it

The next accused to testify was Marcelino Martín Blas, who was head of the Internal Affairs Unit. He is the one who assured Congress that the Catalonia operation was documented. Regarding the Kitchen case, responding to the prosecutor, he assured that he was not aware of the espionage against Luis Bárcenas until Judge Manuel García-Castellón charged him: "I didn't know anything about it until 2019 or 2020, I had no idea until my indictment was published." He said he was so "surprised" that he even had to go with his lawyer to corroborate it. Likewise, he denied having been part of the patriotic police.