Ex-deputy AG admits briefing García Ortiz on secret meetings with PSOE's 'plumber' over Repsol and PP claims

Secret meetings at the attorney general's office

Diego Villafañe, former number two to then-attorney general Álvaro García Ortiz, told Judge Santiago Pedraz on 15 July 2026 in Madrid that he held two meetings inside the Fiscalía General's Fortuny Street headquarters with Leire Díez, a former PSOE militant known as the party's 'plumber', and the lawyer Jacobo Teijelo, who represents former socialist organization secretary Santos Cerdán. The first encounter took place on 6 March 2025, with Villafañe accompanied by prosecutor Beatriz López Pesquera. A second meeting followed a few days later involving only Villafañe. Both lasted no more than 15 minutes and were not formally recorded, a routine in a building where only journalists are asked for identification.

Villafañe described the sessions as 'Martian' and insignificant, claiming he never understood how they were arranged because he routinely received lawyers and citizens. López echoed that view, adding the talks concerned complaints about Value-Added Tax fraud investigations in the hydrocarbons sector.

What the prosecutors allegedly discussed

According to Villafañe's testimony, Teijelo raised the name of Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, chief of staff to Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso of the conservative Partido Popular (PP). The lawyer said Rodríguez was about to join the energy group Repsol (chaired by Antonio Brufau) and used that alleged link to connect the PP with supposed Repsol manoeuvres aimed at eliminating independent fuel operators through instrumental investigations. Villafañe also stated that Teijelo complained about delays by anti-corruption prosecutor José Grinda in reporting on some of those denunciations, and that Grinda and the head of Anticorruption, Alejandro Luzón, were targets of the network the investigation calls the 'cloacas' (sewers) of the PSOE.

García Ortiz's involvement

After the first meeting, Villafañe and López encountered García Ortiz by chance in the hallway of the Fiscalía. At his request, they briefed him in his office on what had been discussed. Villafañe testified that the attorney general saw the matter as lacking criminal relevance and later told one of the prosecutors to forget about it.

Forget it, don't worry.

Neither the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office nor the National Court Prosecutor's Office was ever informed of the encounters.

Narbona's testimony and the wider investigation

On the same day, PSOE president Cristina Narbona appeared as a witness before Pedraz. She said there were worrying signs about Leire Díez's conduct, pointing to messages the former militant sent her in 2024 offering help following the indictment of Begoña Gómez, the prime minister's wife. Narbona did not elaborate further on what those signs implied.

There are worrying indications.

The testimony of the two prosecutors is part of the so-called 'caso Leire', which investigates whether the encounters formed part of a strategy, allegedly led by Santos Cerdán, to disrupt police and judicial operations that could damage the government or the PSOE. Leire Díez and Jacobo Teijelo are both under formal investigation in the proceedings.