Spanish PM declines to testify as witness in wife's corruption case
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00:00Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was indeed set to testify today as a witness in a judicial
00:06investigation into alleged corruption and influence peddling against his wife,
00:12those allegations leading him to consider resigning back in April. But under Spanish law,
00:18close relatives, including spouses, can refuse to answer questions when summoned by a judge.
00:24For more, let's cross to Sarah Morris in Madrid. Sarah, I understand there's been a development
00:29in this story and that the Prime Minister has indeed refused to testify.
00:36That's right. The lawyers, of course, this was a closed door hearing inside the Moncloa Palace,
00:42which is the heart of government. And essentially, the investigating magistrate went to the Moncloa
00:48Palace along with the other lawyers involved in this investigation. And essentially,
00:54Pedro Sanchez talked for about two minutes, say the lawyers outside the court. They say
01:00that is because he was advised that he could remain silent and not testify against his wife,
01:08Begoña Gomez. He opted to not answer the questions of the lawyers. And therefore,
01:13it was a very short hearing. He also, his lawyer, though, has made more detailed
01:20comments outside the Moncloa Palace, Antonio Carmacho, who is a former socialist, a minister
01:27and essentially the lawyer to Pedro Sanchez's wife. And he said that he did not want questions
01:35answered because he says this is a very vague set of allegations. He says that essentially,
01:42it was a fishing expedition. This is a case that has been ongoing since April and essentially was
01:50brought by a far-right organization initially. Clean Hands and other organizations have joined
01:58the accusations against Begoña Gomez. She is a fundraiser for NGOs. She held two positions at a
02:06university, the Complutense, and also at a business school where she ran and oversaw an
02:14Africa center. And essentially, the judge wanted to find out, did she abuse her position as the
02:21prime minister's wife in terms of fundraising? Did she meet with businesses and businesses that
02:28were later benefiting from public contracts? And one late development, we know that the state lawyer
02:35intends to bring a case against the judge who is overseeing this case, saying that he's
02:41overstepping his powers. Very quickly, Sarah, what impact, if any, is it having on the political
02:47career of the prime minister? It's adding more polarization to a very difficult set of circumstances
02:58for Pedro Sánchez. He has to rely on votes from smaller separatist parties in the parliament. And
03:08of course, the opposition, the conservatives, have been calling for him to resign. And of course,
03:15they will now be saying that he wasn't able to answer these allegations that have come out
03:20in the media in a drip-drip way since April. They'll be saying to him that his government
03:26is really a government running on empty.