The Madrid Attorney General, Almudena Lastra, requested this Wednesday the admission for processing of the complaint that State attorney Zaida Fernández Toro presented on behalf of the President of the Government against Judge Juan Carlos Peinado. This magistrate is investigating Pedro Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, for alleged corruption crimes.
Pedro Sánchez filed a complaint against Judge Peinado for summoning him to testify in person, modifying – according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office – the regime provided by law for appearances before state authorities, without any motivation and requesting a “extra-procedural end”.
The complaint was filed on July 30, minutes after Peinado left the Moncloa Palace, where he went to question Pedro Sánchez as part of the investigation against Begoña Gómez for alleged crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business.
Sánchez thus became the first president of the democratic government to file a complaint against a judge.
According to the complaint, by taking Sánchez’s statement in person instead of allowing him to testify in writing, as required by law when the testimony concerns facts that he would have known due to his position, Peinado has altered the legal regime provided for the summons. Sánchez, head of government, seeks “extra-procedural purposes,” which would constitute a crime of prevarication.
“No one is unaware of the public importance, including the possible electoral relevancewhich may have judicial resolutions affecting executive branch positions,” the complaint states.
