Judge Pedraz rebukes PSOE and gives 15 more days for lawyer contract data

A court order with a 15-day deadline

Judge Santiago Pedraz of the Audiencia Nacional, who leads the inquiry the press calls the cloacas or Leire case, has issued an order rebuking the PSOE for not sending documents he requested. He wants the names of the law firms and consultancies the party hired in its central and regional bodies between 2021 and 2025, together with contracts, invoices and some financial information. In the order, Pedraz said the party was reopening a debate he had already settled when he authorised the release of that data. He reminded it that he directs the investigation and gave it 15 days to comply, without tying compliance to other procedural steps.

Why the party asked for more time

The PSOE told the court it had asked the Consejo General de la Abogacía Española whether handing over the data would breach professional secrecy. In a written filing, the party said the information was not centralised and that its capacity for an immediate reply was reduced while its staff focused on the election campaign. It also argued that the requested data concerns many people outside the party, whose rights could suffer if the details became public. The filing insisted on the point that matters most to the party:

A substantial part of the information requested is subject to professional secrecy.

The Consejo replied in a document dated 22 October, saying the Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid holds competence over the request and ruling neither on the merits nor on the scope of the secrecy claim. The judge then forwarded the PSOE's arguments to the prosecutor and the other parties, which El Periódico said in practice gave the party more time. The new 15-day order followed on 23 October.

The Leire Díez line of inquiry

The court is trying to establish whether contracts with two law firms and one consultancy, including companies linked to former Andalusian vice-president Gaspar Zarrías, were used to channel payments to former Socialist activist Leire Díez for services within an alleged plot. That plot is described as led by Santos Cerdán and Díez to destabilise judicial cases affecting the party, the government and relatives of Pedro Sánchez. Investigators must establish whether the services existed, who authorised them and whether they related to Díez's activities. La Razón reports that the UCO located 43,225 euros paid to Díez through companies that also billed the PSOE. The party's consolidated accounts record 39.4 million euros in external services in 2024 but give no full public list of suppliers, amounts or work done, while the party declared 54 million euros in public-origin income that year. La Razón also reports that party federations fear a search of the Ferraz headquarters or the PSOE being named a suspect.

Separate invoice findings in a second probe

El Mundo reported on 22 October, citing investigation sources, that UCO officers comparing the PSOE accounting given to the Audiencia Nacional with documents sent to the Tribunal de Cuentas found missing invoices and others whose descriptions were unintelligible. These findings belong to a separate inquiry by judge Ismael Moreno of Central Investigating Court No. 2, which asked the party for cash payments and supporting documents from 2017 to 2024. Investigators are still trying to establish the origin of those anomalies. According to El Mundo, Víctor de Aldama says he channelled 1.8 million euros between 2019 and 2020 and that José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García asked him to recruit companies, while messages between Aldama and Delcy Rodríguez relate to oil dealings with Venezuela. The paper notes that the investigation is not yet conclusive proof of illegal financing.

What comes next

The 15-day window runs from the order issued on 23 October. The Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid must now decide on the PSOE's request, and the prosecutor and other parties have received the party's arguments. Whether the party meets the new deadline is the next checkpoint in the case.