Cristina Narbona, president of the PSOE, faced the opposition this morning during a long appearance in the Senate in which she denied the existence of irregular financing in the party, appealed to the presumption of innocence in the case of former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and emphasized the socialists’ firmness against any illicit conduct: “Our tolerance towards corruption is zero,” she assured.
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Senators Mar Caballero, from UPN, and Ángel Gordillo, from VOX, tried to elicit information from Narbona about her relationship with Leire Díez, known as the PSOE’s ‘plumber,’ as UCO reports have revealed that Díez contacted Narbona to “redirect attacks against Pedro Sánchez and turn the matter around completely.” This communication occurred in April 2024 when the President of the Government took a few days for reflection after his wife, Begoña Gómez, was charged.
Narbona acknowledged that Leire Díez wrote to her, but assured that she referred her to Santos Cerdán, who at that time was the PSOE’s Secretary of Organization. “Santos later told me that Leire hadn’t said anything of interest, so I didn’t give the matter any importance. I never imagined there could be anything irregular, not even remotely, and I didn’t discuss it with Pedro Sánchez,” Narbona stated.
Leire Díez is now being investigated for alleged crimes of fraud, document forgery, embezzlement, influence peddling, and malfeasance. Narbona insisted that she “had not the slightest suspicion of these behaviors,” although she admitted that she did have some dealings with the PSOE’s ‘plumber,’ “because we would meet in Santander, she would come to greet us like many other people, we would sometimes have coffee, and sometimes we even had lunch together.”
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In response to ERC Senator Joan Queralt, Narbona stated that she was unaware that the PSOE paid a salary to Leire Díez and also covered her travel expenses. The PSOE president affirmed that she only learned of these payments “through UCO reports,” the Civil Guard’s central operational unit. Queralt also addressed the issue of the PSOE’s alleged irregular financing, which Narbona flatly rejected: “Audits have been carried out that show the party does not have a slush fund. There are no irregular payments.”
She added that she does not know Carmen Pano, the businesswoman who declared that she took bags of money to the PSOE headquarters on Ferraz street in Madrid. Narbona insisted that “the party has zero tolerance for corruption” and highlighted that the PSOE “has taken measures to strengthen the control and oversight of its members.” “Collaboration with justice is total,” she added after opposition senators criticized her, pointing out that more than a hundred socialists are already under investigation in the courts.
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(Further details to follow)
