Leire Díez investigaba tramas para un libro, no trabaja para el PSOE
Former PSOE militant from Cantabria Leire Díez has stated that the leaked audios in which she is heard trying to make arrangements against senior public officials are part of a book she is working on as a journalist, writing as a research project carried out on her own behalf, and that she does not work for the PSOE.
In a statement to the media the day after requesting voluntary resignation from the party, she downplayed the agreements with Justice she offered, pointing out that she simply presented options provided by the legal system and did not compromise any public officials.
«I want to make it clear that my work is my work, and in no case have I carried it out on behalf of anyone or on behalf of anyone. And I will repeat it as many times as necessary. Not on behalf of anyone or representing anyone. I am neither a public employee nor do I hold any position in the PSOE,» she affirmed, adding that she is «neither a fixer nor a coward.»
Díez made these statements a day after meeting with the party’s legal services at Ferraz, and after appearing in various audios trying to exchange favors for compromising information against officials of the Central Operating Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard and at least one prosecutor.
In an unprecedented move, she arrived more than 30 minutes early for her media appointment and remained silent in front of the microphones and posing for the cameras until 10:00 a.m., when she finally began to speak. There she reiterated that she is not a «fixer» and that she was simply a «journalist» who was a member of the PSOE. «You can be a member and a socialist,» she concluded.
PÉREZ DOLSET AND ALDAMA
Also present at the event on Wednesday was businessman Javier Pérez Dolset, who appears alongside her in the published recording, in which they both inquire about compromising information on UCO officials and according to her, he came «as a friend» to accompany Díez.
Dolset had a confrontation with the alleged middleman of the scheme, Koldo, Víctor de Aldama, who unexpectedly burst into the room at the Novotel hotel in Madrid where the statement was being made.
«At this point, I don’t need to explain who I am, but I do want to clarify some things that are important to me,» Díez began. «Indeed, I am a member of the Socialist Party until I process my voluntary resignation today, but I am also a graduate in Social Sciences and Information, I am a journalist, and I am also a citizen with rights, because I believe you can be a socialist and a journalist.»
NOT COMPROMISING ANY PROSECUTOR
In this way, she tried to explain that her appearance in those audios is due to a research project she has been developing for several years «to publish a book that will focus on the ravages of false patriotism» related to the hydrocarbon scheme. However, she considers herself a victim of that recording, which she deems «illegal.»
Regarding the agreements she offered with the Prosecutor’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office, she said she simply presented «the possibilities that exist» in the legal system. «I did not compromise any behavior of any public servant, I am absolutely calm about that, not of prosecutors or anyone, I only proposed this possibility that is always open,» she justified.
She also points out that any relationship with the Prosecutor’s Office would be the responsibility of the lawyers of those involved, and she says that if something else has been interpreted, «it may be a misinterpretation, maybe I have made a mistake in its formulation, but even Judge (Juan Carlos) Peinado, it seems that he is human,» she joked referring to the judge investigating the wife of the Prime Minister, Begoña Gómez.
She also notes that the recorded meeting lasted «much longer» than is known, and she hopes that its full content will be revealed and not just the published part because «it is essential for a balanced judgment of its content.» In any case, she admits that her participation in it was «active» and aimed to confirm the information she had previously obtained «about the relationship of those affected by the case with some public servants.»
SCANDALS AFFECTING THE RULE OF LAW
The former Director of Institutional Relations at Correos (2022-2024) stated that she began this journalistic work following the Kitchen case and the patriotic police «the unusual investigations into parties like Podemos, Operation Catalonia, hydrocarbons, and many more,» she recounted.
She also says that she has been investigating long before «scandals affecting the government of the PSOE» appeared, but she claims to have also incorporated them into her work. As well as the «calculated and prefabricated» leaks, against which the rule of law must act «swiftly.» In this sense, she denounces that daily, leaks of secret actions are shamelessly spread, but only those affecting the Attorney General are investigated.
Leire Díez has stated that she trusts in democracy and the rule of law, but it cannot look the other way when there is «malfunction» that also affects fundamental rights.
SHE RESIGNED TO EXPLAIN, BUT HOPES IT IS «TEMPORARY»
Finally, she pointed out that the day before she explained these investigations at Ferraz, where she met with the instructor of her file, and she explains that she requested her voluntary and «temporary, I hope,» resignation, because she wants to explain «freely» and say «everything she has to say.» «I requested my voluntary resignation in order to be able to attend to everyone and talk about what happened during the past week,» she added.
«And allow me to finish with one thing: neither a fixer nor a coward, I will continue with my work to finish the book, defending my ideas as a free citizen who exercises her rights. They will not intimidate me, and I will not give up my convictions,» she concluded.
