The central Executive considers that the director of the Guardia Civil, Mercedes González, will offer the necessary clarifications before the National High Court judge Santiago Pedraz, who has charged her in the 'Leire Díez case' for alleged crimes of prevarication and obstruction of justice.
According to sources from Moncloa, they take for granted that González will provide "the pertinent explanations before Justice," in the same way that, they maintain, she has been doing since the case broke out and as, they recall, "she demonstrated in her appearance in the Senate" on June 16.
With this message, the president's circle tries to project "calm" in the face of the National High Court's latest decision, which incorporates a new high-ranking government official to the list of those investigated in various judicial proceedings. "Total normality and transparency because there is nothing to hide," they emphasize from Moncloa.
Sánchez and Marlaska reinforce their support
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, had already publicly expressed his support for Mercedes González after it became known that she had several meetings with former socialist militant Leire Díez, known as the 'plumber' of the PSOE, who is accused of being part of a plot to halt judicial investigations affecting socialists.
On June 5, during an official trip to Montenegro, Sánchez recalled that the director of the Guardia Civil had already given explanations about those meetings—initially denied by the Executive—reiterated his confidence in González's professionalism and honesty, and stated that she was doing a "very positive" job at the head of the corps.
This Thursday, her hierarchical superior, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, once again expressed his confidence in her and guaranteed that she will continue in her post performing her responsibilities as before. The investigators, for their part, maintain that Leire Díez would have taken advantage of her connection with González to try to achieve her objectives, including acting against several agents.
Meetings with the PSOE's 'plumber'
The Government refers to González's intervention in the Upper Chamber, where she denied having taken part in an alleged plot against the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Guardia Civil in order to sanction agents involved in investigations affecting the Government and the PSOE. "Never ever," she stated then.
"I have never taken any action against any UCO or Civil Guard agent to alter investigations affecting the Government," he reiterated before the senators. He did acknowledge, however, having met Leire Díez on two occasions, although always outside official premises. In one of those meetings, as he explained, Díez asked him to reinstate agent Rubén Villalba to his former post, a request that González refused.