This Tuesday, July 30, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado will be accompanied by a plaintiff from the far-right Vox party to question the head of the socialist government Pedro Sanchez. This is to take place at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid, the seat of the national executive. The Prime Minister is to testify as part of an investigation against his wife Begona Gomez, accused of influence peddling and corruption. An unprecedented situation caused by an extraordinary judge.
1 min
With our correspondent in Madrid, Francois Musseau
All the journalists who met him say the same thing about this magistrate with the penetrating gaze and determined demeanor: Juan Carlos Peinado has long sought to be recognized in the media, to leave a mark. And he has succeeded: He will undoubtedly remain the judge who investigated the Begona Gomez filethe wife of the head of the socialist government, an unprecedented situation in Spanish democracy.
A long-time town hall secretary, he entered the judiciary late, and today at 70, he should logically have retired. But he insisted a lot that he be given two more years, until he was 72, to continue his activity.
Closeness to the right
And that’s a good thing, because Juan Carlos Peinado definitely intends to prolong the investigation against Begona Gomez and prove that she was guilty of corruption and influence peddling. This could bring down her husband’s government, Pedro Sanchezin power since 2018.
Juan Carlos Peinado has twice attacked left-wing leaders. He is accused of having close ties to the right, starting with his own daughter, a conservative municipal councillor in Pozuelo, west of the Spanish capital.
Read alsoSpain: “There is impatience on the part of the right to get rid of Pedro Sanchez”