MADRID (AP) — Spain's Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz went on trial Monday over allegations of leaking confidential information in an unprecedented and politically charged case that looms large over Prime
Minister Pedro Sanchez’ s left-wing government.
It's the first time in Spain's modern history that a top prosecutor faces a criminal trial. It's one of several cases that have implicated people close to Sánchez
.García Ortiz is accused of having leaked an email to journalists from a lawyer who was representing the partner of Madrid's influential regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, one of Spain’s main opposition leaders. García Ortiz has denied the charges and has received public support from Sánchez on more than one occasion.
García Ortiz has been attorney general since 2022. The trial is scheduled to last 10 days.
The case is at the heart of tensions between Spain's left-wing national government and Madrid's conservative regional government.
Two former high-ranking officials in Sánchez’s Socialist Party as well as the prime minister’s wife and brother are facing separate corruption investigations. While Sánchez himself has not been named in any of the cases, they have at times threatened to bring down his government.
In reference to the probes into his wife's business dealings, Sánchez has said that some judges in the country were acting on ideological motives.
