Spain's Attorney General: 'Truth does not leak, truth is defended' during trial on alleged leak of confidential information

The Spanish Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, has denied disclosing an email concerning the partner of Madrid's regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. During his testimony before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, he said, "Truth does not leak, truth is defended."

The email exchange between Spain's public prosecution office and the lawyer of businessperson Alberto González Amador read that there was a tax evasion crime and they were negotiating regarding a potential agreement.

García Ortiz also rejected having any relationship with the journalists who have recently testified, saying that the Attorney General had not shared the email with them. He started by answering the prosecution office, who asked him if he had leaked the email, which he denied.

The country's top prosecutor said he was aware of the case against Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner after the office's communications director spoke with him at the request of a journalist seeking more information. At that moment, he was informed that there was a judicial case affecting González Amador.

During the first day of the trial, on November 3, after hearing the charges and the penalties requested by the private prosecution, the presiding judge, Andrés Martínez Arrieta, asked the Attorney General whether he admitted to the facts as described. García Ortiz replied: "No."

The popular prosecutions involved in the case – including the Professional and Independent Association of Prosecutors (APIF) and far-right groups, such as Hazte Oír, Vox, and Manos Limpias – are seeking a prison sentence of up to six years for the Attorney General.

García Ortiz's lawyer, Consuelo Castro, criticized the judicial case and regretted that the police confiscated all documents, phones, and computers, although they were requested to seize only some information.

She believes law enforcement agents did an "undiscriminatory" seizure, which should be canceled. "Added to the fact that they violated García Ortiz's right of intimacy during the judicial case, and that there have been many violations of the right to have a fair trial, as it is established in the Spanish constitution," she added.

Lawfare?

According to many experts, the case bears the hallmarks of political lawfare, as it involves Spain’s two main parties amid an atmosphere of intense political polarization, and is built on limited evidence.

"More than 20 people had access to those emails. It could have been any of them. But for reasons we still don't know, the investigating judge decided that García Ortiz was the main suspect," explains Josep Lluís Martí, a law professor at Pompeu Fabra University.

According to Martí, there is no strong evidence supporting the accusation, and the investigation mainly rests on the fact that García Ortiz deleted data from his mobile phone, something he claims is standard practice for someone in his position.

Around 40 witnesses are expected to appear, including prosecutors, journalists, politicians, lawyers, and police officers.

The testimonies of about ten journalists summoned to court will be crucial. "They have the right to remain silent and not disclose their sources, but they could also choose to do so," Martí explains.

If any journalist were to identify García Ortiz as the source, the case against him would gain weight.

However, so far, most journalists questioned during the investigation have refused to reveal their sources but have stated that the Attorney General was not among them.