US EditionSpanish PM Sanchez defends party financing in Senate grilling over graft scandals
Pedro Sánchez denies involvement as opposition probes alleged kickbacks linked to his allies and family during Covid-19, amid efforts to trigger early elections, Senate majority leads inquiry.
- On Thursday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faced a Spanish Senate commission to explain a corruption scandal, denying alleged Socialist Party wrongdoing and calling the probe a `circus` and `a witch hunt`.
- Senators trace the probe to alleged pandemic-era contract kickbacks involving former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and Santos Cerdán, with police searching Socialist headquarters in Madrid and suspect Koldo García.
- The 266-member Senate, controlled by the Popular Party, pressed Sánchez during a five-hour hearing where he defended party financing as `absolutely clean` and said cash payments never exceeded 1,000 euros.
- The scandal has put Sánchez's minority government at risk by intensifying opposition pressure, but he has rebuffed calls to resign and unveiled July anti-corruption measures to repair ties with the far-left Sumar party after a damning police report this year.
- A related legal development is that the Socialist-appointed top prosecutor will stand trial next week accused of leaking secrets, while the PP seeks early elections as Sánchez becomes only the second sitting prime minister grilled by the Senate.
54 Articles
54 Articles
Spanish PM: Senate Corruption Probe ‘A Circus’
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez described a Senate committee hearing into a corruption scandal as “a circus,” amid investigations that have ensnared former Socialist officials and his own wife. The probe concerns alleged kickbacks for public contracts for sanitary equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic, involving close allies of Sánchez who helped him rise to power. Sánchez defended his party’s finances as “absolutely clean” and rejected ca…
Spanish PM Sanchez defends party financing in Senate grilling over graft scandals
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Thursday his Socialist Party's financing was completely above board as he faced a Senate commission of inquiry into a corruption scandal dogging his party and threatening his premiership.
The Spanish Prime Minister's Senate hearing on the corruption scandal of some of his trusted men takes place on Thursday 30 October in Madrid, under the watchful eye of the right-wing opposition.
Pedro Dominginhos, President of the National PRR Follow-up Commission, is aligned with the expectations of the executive. He says that it is possible to "reprogramming in progress".
Spain's PM faces hostile Senate grilling over corruption scandal
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will on Thursday attempt to offer explanations to mostly right-wing lawmakers investigating a corruption scandal that has threatened to topple his minority left-wing government.
It continues live the last hour of Pedro Sánchez's appearance in the Senate on the Koldo case.
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 39% of the sources lean Left, 38% of the sources lean Right
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
