Begoña Gómez, wife of the President of the Government, explained to the Madrid Assembly that she would not testify before its commission of inquiry into the Complutense University because she is accused in the criminal proceedings that judge Juan Carlos Peinado is directing against She. “All of this has an obvious political objective: just look at the list of complainants and for this reason, advised by my lawyer, I will use my right not to answer your questions after having fulfilled my obligation to appear. . “Sooner or later the truth will put things in their place,” she said, referring to the “hoaxes” about her.
The businesswoman defended her professional career before announcing that she would not answer questions: “For 25 years, I have worked in consulting and teaching, I have coordinated teams, managed projects, advised more than fifty professionals from the private sector and the third. sector. 12 years ago I started a collaboration with Complutense, as co-director of a master’s degree with its own degrees to train professionals specialized in social and sustainable projects. It was in 2020 that this collaboration expanded with the creation of an extraordinary chair, which is a common practice in public and unpaid universities,” he said. She also defended “a professional life built with great effort, as millions of women do every day in our country”.
The first to speak, representing the PP, was Mercedes Zarzalejo, reading her speech: “We want to know how she worked as a university professor without being one, a professor of chair without merit, director of masters of which she could not have been a student, finance a chair with funds much higher than the others, it seems that she appropriated software and, in short, why she abused her status as wife of the president of the government to create a career professional who until now had never happened. been possible. had”.
“They cannot ask questions unrelated to the purpose of the commission,” warned the president of the commission. Zarzalejo tried to interrupt Gómez during his first presentation and the president of the commission had to ask for silence so that the wife of the president of the government could finish speaking. She then asked questions about her work at Complutense but also about aspects that have nothing to do with the center, such as the rescue of Air Europa, without being interrupted by the president.
At the entrance to the Regional Assembly of Madrid, the ultra-Catholic organization HazteOir, which leads the popular accusation against it, located a van with various images of Gómez. A few moments before the appearance, already inside the room, there was a clash between a PSOE deputy and the president of the commission: “It was not planned,” denounced one of them when the media entered the room to take photos with Gómez already seated at the bar.
Begoña Gómez is summoned to court next Monday, November 18. Judge Juan Carlos Peinado explained that his objective was to “give him the personal transfer of the complaint and to declare himself in this capacity assisted by a lawyer for the aforementioned crimes.” For the moment, the wife of the President of the Government has requested the postponement of this summons because it coincides with her presence at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change which is being held in Azerbaijan and popular accusations, including Vox, have requested that she impose precautionary measures on him such as withdrawing his passport so that he cannot leave the country.
Judge Juan Carlos Peinado focused his criminal investigation against Begoña Gómez on her work at the Complutense University of Madrid, where she had two master’s degrees and a chair, now canceled by the center. So far, UCM has informed the court that the businesswoman’s choice to work with them was due to her professional profile and experience, arguments she already repeated in 2023 when a lawyer makes this same request for information, as explained by elDiario.es.
The rector of the UCM, Joaquín Goyache, is also accused in this case, also called to testify before this commission of inquiry. Goyache denied any type of favorable treatment to the wife of the President of Government during his appearances before Judge Peinado. The final branch of the case focuses on the management of free software that various companies developed for the chair that Gómez headed and that she hosted on a website registered in the name of one of her companies, with a name similar to that of the pulpit. in question.
The UCM could not find evidence of a crime related to the use of this software, but wrote to Judge Peinado to order a criminal investigation from his court. At the same time, the ultra-Catholic organization HazteOir filed a complaint on this subject, which led to the opening of a new room distinct from the one already investigating the public contracts awarded to Juan Carlos Barrabés and the work de Gómez at the Africa Center. where for the moment the magistrate has not obtained any indications of preferential treatment.
