A familiar pattern emerges as the wife of Socialist Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, is indicted on corruption charges and remanded to give up her passport and return to court for check-in every 15 days until trial.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — A judge on Saturday ordered the wife of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to face trial on charges of influence peddling and corruption, and to surrender her passport.

Investigative judge Juan Carlos Peinado issued the ruling, arguing that Begoña Gómez represented a flight risk. In addition to surrendering her passport, she must also appear before a court every two weeks. A trial date hasn’t been set.

The decision touched off a heated political confrontation, with calls from the opposition for Sanchez’s Socialist government to resign.

Gómez is accused of using her position to influence government contracts given to a group of technology companies. The judge also accused her of the misuse of public funds in the hiring of a consultant, and the inappropriate use of software while she was a professor at a public university.

Gómez has denied any wrongdoing. Sánchez has called the case against her part of a smear campaign by conservative political opponents to topple his left-wing government, which has been in power since 2018.

Peinado said that a businessman who allegedly benefited from the government contracts and the consultant that worked for Gómez will also stand trial. (read more)

It is factual that almost every socialist politician is eventually involved in influence peddling, fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, embezzlement and corruption.

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