Two months after the Supreme Court disqualified the then Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García OrtizFor the crime of disclosing classified information, the Spanish government is processing its first request for a full pardon. According to reports The Country And the Spanish government has confirmed that the Ministry of Justice has already asked the Supreme Court to issue a report on the pardon after it was requested by two private individuals. This is the first pardon request since García Ortiz was convicted for leaking the email in which Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner, Alberto González Amador, admitted to tax fraud. It's worth remembering that, despite the outcome of the case, Pedro Sánchez's government and the president himself have consistently stood by the former Attorney General. The Spanish government maintains that García Ortiz is innocent, even though he has been convicted, and has even questioned the procedure behind what it considers an "unjust" conviction. The Public Prosecutor's Office, in fact, has already has asked that the conviction be overturned And this Tuesday, more than 150 legal experts, including former Supreme Court magistrates such as José Antonio Martín Pallín and former National Court judge Baltasar Garzón, signed a manifesto in which they criticize the sentence "Disturbing" regarding Ortiz. For the moment, the Spanish government has reacted cautiously to the pardon request from two individuals. "We'll see what the Supreme Court says in this case, as they are the ones who have been asked for information [about the pardon]," stated the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres.

There are fraudulent rulings and rulings that are inherently fraudulent. The Supreme Court's ruling that convicts the Attorney General falls into the latter category. This court, boasting of its extensive expertise and the high legal caliber of some of its members, has drafted a decision that appears technically sound, but which falters when it addresses the core issue it is meant to resolve.

Nineteen days after announcing the verdict, the Supreme Court has finally published its ruling justifying the two-year disqualification of the Attorney General. It considers that Álvaro García Ortiz committed the crime of "disclosure of confidential information," since, according to the judges who signed the ruling—five of the seven who comprised the panel—there is a body of "solid" evidence to assert that he, "or someone in his immediate circle with his knowledge," leaked to journalists a statement by Ayuso requesting a plea bargain and admitting to tax fraud. It is surprising that after so many days, the ruling is full of conditionals and suppositions that the judges consider clear indications. The appearance of the phrase "or someone in his immediate circle" already seems to demonstrate that they were unable to determine exactly who did it, and elsewhere in the ruling they also indicate that the fact that he deleted the WhatsApp messages from that day, for example, is, in their view, proof that he wanted to hide what he had done. In this respect, the numerous conditional statements and the overall tone of the ruling are worrying. This is especially true because the dissenting opinion of the two progressive judges dismantles these arguments, asserting that, in fact, there is no clear evidence directly incriminating García Ortiz.

Legal language is often technical and difficult to understand, but this is assumed to be necessary to meet the requirement of specificity expected in judges' rulings—especially when they are convictions. Therefore, it is surprising that in the case of the Attorney General, the Supreme Court justices resorted to an example they themselves consider "simple" to explain, plainly and simply, why they convicted Álvaro García Ortiz. "The plastic surgeon who has operated on a celebrity, whose physical transformation has generated a public debate about whether their new appearance is the result of surgery or any other medical procedure, can never participate in the controversy by confirming or denying the reality of this operation. If they did so, they would incur criminal liability." It is understood that the Attorney General is the surgeon and that Alberto González Amador is the patient who underwent cosmetic surgery. The same principle, the ruling explains, would apply if a patient's medical information were disclosed.

Teresa Peramato will be the new Attorney General of Spain. The name of this veteran prosecutor specializing in gender violence has emerged amidst the controversy surrounding the reasons that led the Spanish government to replace Álvaro García Ortiz: a Supreme Court conviction for revealing secrets. The Council of Ministers on Tuesday initiated the formal appointment process, drawing criticism from the right wing regarding the methods used, though conservatives have not dismissed the profile of a professional considered highly prestigious. At a press conference in the Moncloa Palace, Bolaños highlighted Peramato's "feminist commitment" and "vocation for public service," as well as her "extraordinary legal training." He also once again praised her predecessor, whose departure is being met with reluctance. The appointment of her successor will not be immediate, and the Spanish government intends for García Ortiz to remain in his post until the appointment is finalized. Sources within the Spanish government are confident that the timelines for both processes will coincide because, however much the Supreme Court may notify the ruling that disqualifies her for two years earlier, "it will not be immediately enforceable."

The Spanish Attorney General has not waited for the official notification of the sentence that will convict him for revealing secrets—it has not yet been drafted—and resigned from his post this Monday morning. Álvaro García Ortiz sent a letter early this morning to the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, in which he asks to be dismissed "without even waiting to learn the reasoning" of the Supreme Court's decision, which announced last week that it will disqualify him from holding public office for two years for leaking an email in which the couple... In the letter, the Attorney General asserts that his service "is an act owed not only to the Public Prosecutor's Office, but to all Spanish citizens." García Ortiz thus avoids prolonging his inevitable departure and paves the way for the Spanish government to announce his replacement, which is still unknown. "We have already set in motion the process for appointing the new Attorney General," explained Pedro Sánchez from the G-20 summit in Angola. The Spanish president did not specify whether the matter would be resolved at Tuesday's cabinet meeting, but said there would be news "in a short time."

The silence is over. Three days later, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez has finally spoken out about it. the conviction of the Attorney General of the StateÁlvaro García Ortiz, escalating the clash with the judiciary, has entrusted the Constitutional Court with correcting "some aspects of the ruling." "We have always respected the independence of the judiciary; it is others who have spoken of controlling the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court through the back door," he stated this Sunday at a press conference in Johannesburg, where he is participating in the G-20 summit. With this jab at the People's Party (PP) for the control of the high court that Popular Party Senator Ignacio Cosidó boasted about, he has distanced himself and taken the opportunity to implicitly criticize the chamber presided over by Manuel Marchena, which handed down the sentence. "We accept the ruling, although we do not agree with it," he continued, reiterating the message conveyed by the Moncloa Palace (the Prime Minister's office) since Thursday. In this regard, he reaffirmed that his government "regrets" the ruling and chooses to "express its disagreement," as it believes is appropriate in a democratic society. "I believe in the innocence of the Attorney General," he insisted, despite the court verdict. For this reason, he clung to the testimony of journalists who exonerated García Ortiz from the leak of confidential emails containing tax information about the partner of the Madrid president—the crux of the case. "It has been clearly demonstrated that the Attorney General was not the source of the leak," he asserted. In addition to "regretting this sentence," as he repeatedly stated, he said that "the procedure to appoint a new Attorney General" has already begun. He also expressed confidence that the Constitutional Court will rectify some points of the sentence, which he labeled "controversial," once it is made public with the full legal reasoning, not just the operative part: "There are other jurisdictional bodies that will have to resolve some aspects of the sentence," he remarked.

The conviction of the Attorney General has sent shockwaves through Spanish politics. The two-year disqualification of Álvaro García Ortiz is a major blow to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has maintained his innocence to the very end. This explains why he has not explicitly addressed the event held in Congress on November 20th, the fiftieth anniversary of Franco's death. He did, however, defend "freedom of the press" in the face of "complex times for journalism" amidst "abuses of power" and "disinformation campaigns." In any case, the Moncloa Palace has made it clear that it "does not agree" with the sentence against the Attorney General, although it "respects" it, as confirmed by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños. In fact, the state executive stressed that in the coming days he will set in motion the process to choose a new attorney general, while acknowledging García Ortiz's "work" and his "commitment to defending public service, the law, and the truth." Thus, despite the fierce defense, particularly pronounced in the case of the Socialist spokesperson in Congress, Patxi López, who has labeled the sentence a "disgrace," the fact remains that a replacement is being sought. What are the next steps?

If the trial itself was already quite unusual, the sentencing of the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, to two years of disqualification from public office and the order to compensate Alberto González Amador—in other words, his institutional demise—has been even more surprising. The result is that the strategy of the advisor and strongman behind Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the controversial Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, has triumphed. Even Aznar dismissed Rodríguez for being too radical when he was spokesperson for his government. Rodríguez, aided by the press and the judiciary aligned with his views, has achieved the Attorney General's dismissal, and there is a possibility, following this sentence, that the trial of Ayuso's fraudulent partner will come to nothing if it is determined that their rights were violated.

The conviction of the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, is one that marks a turning point, a stage in the life of the State and the relations between its institutions. The reasoning behind the sentence will, of course, need to be examined, but the very fact that the Attorney General has been found guilty of a crime implies a correction imposed on the government of Pedro Sánchez, which had defended his innocence. Furthermore, the conduct of the Public Prosecutor's Office was being judged for refuting a media manipulation. What García Ortiz did was address a lie that compromised the credibility of his administration. The false news was that the Public Prosecutor's Office had halted negotiations with businessman Alberto González Amador—accused of tax fraud—following instructions received from high-ranking officials, that is, from the government. It was further claimed that the attempted settlement had initially been promoted by the prosecutors, when in reality it had been requested by the defense.

The trial of the Attorney General in the Supreme Court has concluded and is now awaiting judgment. after six sessions which failed to resolve the central question in the case against Álvaro García Ortiz: Who leaked the email containing confidential information about Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner? After analyzing the facts presented at the oral hearing, the prosecution insisted on blaming the head of the public prosecutor's office, for whom they are seeking a prison sentence of between three and six years. However, García Ortiz's defense countered that "they have no evidentiary basis." "There is no proof," insisted state attorney Ignacio Ocio this Thursday, during his closing arguments that concluded the two-week trial. Ocio proclaimed García Ortiz "innocent" and warned that "the constitutional activity" of the Attorney General has been criminalized, after yesterday's statement as the sole defendant has declined to exercise his right to speak last.

The defense made by the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, on Sunday in The CountryThe assertion of the "innocence" of the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, has infuriated the right wing, which considers it a way to "pressure" the Supreme Court. According to Moncloa Palace, nothing could be further from the truth. This Tuesday, the spokesperson for the Spanish government and Minister of Education, Pilar Alegría, reaffirmed that "there is no evidence" to convict the Attorney General, basing her statement on the testimony of various witnesses who appeared before the Supreme Court. Last week, a journalist fromEldiario.es He already exonerated him, categorically asserting that García Ortiz was "innocent" and that he was not the source who provided the leaked email.Two other journalists corroborated this version on the fourth day of the trial. Miguel Ángel Campos, a journalist with Cadena SER, who published the contents of the February 2, 2024, message containing confidential information about Isabel Díaz Ayuso's boyfriend on the night of the leak, also exonerated the Attorney General. Campos explained that although he called him that night, he did not speak with him. García Ortiz did not answer the phone, did not return the call, and they did not exchange messages. In fact, the SER journalist asserted that he had access to the email hours before the Attorney General. While investigators place the time when García Ortiz obtained the message at 9:59 p.m. on March 13, 2024, Campos testified that he consulted it early that afternoon. He did so from his source's computer screen—which only allowed him to take notes and did not forward or print the email—located in an office on the "third floor." This location puts the spotlight on the Madrid Regional Prosecutor's Office. Both the defense for the Attorney General and the prosecution have insisted on questioning the case in that physical space throughout the trial. The Chief Prosecutor of Madrid, Almudena Lastra—who in her testimony pointed the finger at García Ortiz—and the head of press for the Madrid Prosecutor's Office, Íñigo Corral, both witnesses in the first sessions of the trial, work on the third floor of the Madrid High Court building.

This last quarter of the year is so intense that, in the end, a trial of the so-called historical kind, what is taking place against the Attorney General of the StateÁlvaro García Ortiz's case is being partially overshadowed by a storm of political and legal news. The resignation of the Valencian president, Carlos Mazón; the beginning of talks between the PP and Vox for agreeing to his replacement; the book of the emeritus king –full of self-justifications and accusations against others-, and the breakdown of the investiture pact with Pedro SánchezThe announcement by Junts has competed for space and attention over the ongoing oral hearing against the prosecutor. However, this case represents a real test for the Supreme Court. There is a great deal at stake in this case. Firstly, for the prosecutor, because he faces a six-year prison sentence for trying to cover up the lies surrounding the negotiations between the Prosecutor's Office and businessman Alberto González Amador, partner of the Madrid president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. But the challenge is also for the Supreme Court, given that the case on which it will have to rule has never had to go this far. Prestige at stake

To a large extent, the Supreme Court's prestige is also at stake because the trial's progress is highlighting the lack of objective evidence regarding García Ortiz's alleged guilt. Some may believe that the Attorney General leaked the email in which the businessman's lawyer admitted his client's fraud and proposed a settlement. However, no witness has confirmed this, and several journalists have stated that they knew of this message before it became public. Since there is no incontrovertible proof of García Ortiz's guilt, it is difficult to imagine how a guilty verdict could be drafted, and with what arguments. A collection of circumstantial evidence justifies prosecution, but there must be something more to overcome the presumption of innocence.

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The Provincial Court of Madrid confirmed on Friday the indictment of Alberto González Amador, partner of the Madrid regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. He is being investigated for tax fraud, document forgery, ongoing accounting fraud, and membership in a criminal organization for allegedly defrauding the Spanish Treasury of nearly €351,000 in 2020 and 2021 through several false invoices. The confirmation comes after the judges dismissed the appeal filed by González Amador against the summary proceedings ruling issued by Madrid's Court of Instruction Number 19 in May. In this appeal, Ayuso's partner requested the annulment of this ruling, which was the preliminary step before the start of the trial. which the judge already opened at the end of September

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1. This is a crucial Monday, from a legal standpoint. Spain will experience a political upheaval that will be discussed for some time. Both the PP, led by Mazón and Ayuso, and the PSOE, led by Pedro Sánchez, have a lot at stake. Sánchez will face a pivotal day with the Attorney General in the dock. In Valencia, Maribel Vilaplana, as a witness, will hold the key to clarifying, minute by minute, what happened at El Ventorro, outside the restaurant and in the parking lot where Carles Mazón allegedly accompanied her after a feast for which we haven't seen the bill. The journalist, who as a witness cannot lie, should today reveal all the details of Mazón's silence, regarding those 40 minutes in which the President of the Valencian Generalitat didn't check his phone and didn't answer the calls from his Minister of Emergencies, who was calling him repeatedly. The same week as the state funeral for the 229 people who died in Valencia, we learned that Salomé Pradas was aware, from 1:56 p.m., that the greatest danger would come from the Poio ravine. The irresponsibility of not doing enough to warn people when necessary should not only force Mazón to resign, even if it's a year later, even if it's only because the cries of the victims' families have moved him, but should also make him pay for his actions in court. He could have prevented many deaths and was, so to speak, idly by. The fact that he hasn't even been charged is outrageous.

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The Supreme Court will host the hearings in the next two weeks. one of the trials with which the PP and Vox want to corner Pedro Sánchez And it will be a staged clash between the right wing and the Moncloa Palace (the Prime Minister's residence). It's not the culmination of any investigations into his personal life, but rather the case used by conservatives to illustrate that the "institutional degradation" they blame on the Socialist leader has reached unprecedented levels in Spanish democracy. The situation that will unfold starting Monday in the Supreme Court is truly unprecedented. It will be the first time a sitting Attorney General has been in the dock. The future of Álvaro García Ortiz, who was appointed directly by the Spanish government, will be defined by the six sessions of the trial for revealing secrets. It remains to be seen whether it can be determined if he was the one who leaked the email containing confidential information about Alberto González Amador, Isabel Díaz Ayuso's boyfriend, to the press. Aside from the potential political consequences of a conviction, the Attorney General faces up to six years in prison. Let's take a look at who's who in this trial.

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In these pages we have already recalled on other occasions that on November 2, 2017, the then Secretary General of ERC, Marta Rovira, warned that what the Spanish justice system, hand in hand with the PP, was doing against the independence movement—imprisoning an entire government—would one day turn against the PSOE. That this moment has arrived is demonstrated once again with the start of the trial of the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, a high point in the war that the right-wing-dominated Spanish judicial leadership launched against Pedro Sánchez when he agreed to an amnesty with Junts in exchange for remaining in power. Executive, because it would be inappropriate not to specify.

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This term will go down in the country's political history as a period filled with paradoxes, possibly as a result of the initial contradiction. It makes perfect sense for the person who can muster a parliamentary majority to govern, but things would have been very different if the PP, as the party with the most votes, had come to power. Feijóo's constant grumbling, since his failure in his investiture debate, has infected everything, especially the judicial world, leading to the progressive deterioration of the conditions under which government action has had to be carried out. It is well known that parallel lines, if they meet anywhere, are in infinity. And so, in parallel, the paths of the partners in the pact to make Pedro Sánchez president have advanced, reaching a point where nothing is predictable. Neither how and when the term will end, nor how and when the judicial proceedings that keep the PSOE on hold will reach their deadline.

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The Supreme Court will try the Attorney General of the State, Álvaro García Ortiz, in the coming months for his alleged leak of an email linked to Alberto González Amador, the partner of Madrid's president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. In said email, González Amador confessed to having defrauded the Treasury and requested a deal to reduce his sentence.

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In all this fuss against the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, the main issue is sometimes lost sight of. Namely, that the accusation is of having leaked a real and true email in which a criminal confesses to having defrauded the Treasury and asks for a deal to reduce his sentence. García Ortiz is not accused of malfeasance, misappropriating other people's money, or using his position to enrich himself. This, for example, is included in the judge's report against former Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro, who is not only under investigation for changing laws to benefit certain companies but also publicly flaunted his knowledge of the tax situation of his opponents, and also of his co-religionists. In other words, he revealed secrets that he equally couldn't reveal, or threatened to do so.

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