The director of the Economic Office of the Presidency of the Government, Manuel De la Rocha, assured this Tuesday in Congress that he has not held meetings or even had contact with Leire Díez, known as the 'PSOE plumber' and pointed out for allegedly being in charge of discrediting judges, prosecutors, and police officers who were investigating the party. "I am not a plumber for any sewer," he stated emphatically.
The appearance of Pedro Sánchez's main economic advisor took place in the Mixed Commission (Congress-Senate) for National Security, where he had been summoned to report on movements at Indra. However, PP and Vox took advantage of his presence to steer the debate towards the judicial investigations of the so-called 'Leire case'.
PP deputy Rafael Hernando maintained that Leire Díez's scheme had "an arm in Moncloa" in which De la Rocha would have played "a fundamental and capital role." "There was a political plumber and there was an economic plumber, and that is you," the 'popular' parliamentarian snapped at him.
"Never, never, never"
"I am not a plumber for any sewer --protested the high-ranking Moncloa official--. I have thirty years of professional experience, I have worked in three international organizations in four countries, I have been in charge of the Economic Office of the Presidency of the Government for eight years, and never, never, never have I been in a meeting where any matter that did not strictly comply with the law was discussed."
De la Rocha criticized "the mudslinging" and the tone used by the PP, emphasizing that "never" in his entire professional career had anyone addressed him in that manner.
Vox spokesperson, Ignacio Gil Lázaro, also insisted on this issue and demanded that De la Rocha clarify why he appeared in Leire Díez's agendas and what kind of link he would have maintained with the so-called 'PSOE plumber'.
The economic head of Moncloa expressed his surprise at appearing in Leire's 'papers' and explained that he has reviewed his own agenda without finding any trace. "I have met with thousands of people in these eight years, I have reviewed eight years of meetings with my team, because my memory might fail me, but I have no record of having met, greeted, spoken to, or exchanged any message with this lady," he concluded.
Furthermore, he added that he made an additional "effort" to check if, by chance, Leire Díez had been present at any meeting he attended, without success. "The result is that I have had no contact with this lady throughout all these years," he reiterated.
Contacts with companies and rescues during the pandemic
At another point in his statement, the high-ranking official from Moncloa referred to his role in the rescues of companies considered strategic during the pandemic, from which companies like Plus Ultra benefited. On this point, De la Rocha indicated that his duties require him to hold meetings with numerous business executives, that his actions in those rescues were framed "within normality" and "legality," and that he focused mainly on meetings with other members of the Government to learn "firsthand" about relevant economic issues.
Regarding José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, De la Rocha explained that he coincided with the former president at one of the 50 events held with businessmen following the European funds after the pandemic, a seminar that Zapatero was moderating. He specified that he was not even present in person, as he participated virtually, and that there was "nothing out of the ordinary."