A large number of National Police agents spied on the movements of at least 55 Podemos deputies during the government of Mariano Rajoy, as evidenced by the documentation sent by the force itself to the National Court, to which elDiario has had access, which is already part of the case that Judge Santiago Pedraz is conducting against the dirty war against the political party, waged by the last executive of the Popular Party.
This episode, one of the most serious attacks on the democratic opposition during Rajoy’s mandate, is documented through files containing questions from state security officials about the deputies’ movements. The judge is investigating who and how he gave the orders, but in February he admitted a complaint in which the then number two of the Ministry of the Interior, Francisco Martínez, is accused. In one of the WhatsApp chats seized during Operation Kitchen from the former Secretary of State for Security, the politician orders a prominent member of the political brigade to obtain compromising data on the deputies of the new formation.
Among those being spied on are Pablo Iglesias, his former collaborator Iñigo Errejón, the current second vice-president of the government, Yolanda Díaz, then deputy of Podemos, and the former candidate of the Compromise for the Valencian Generalitat, Joan Baldoví. According to the documentation, brought forward by El País, the consultations take place from different police services, from the central police services to the local headquarters or the police assigned to Congress, and the movements of elected officials can be followed.
On 30 January 2016, talks between PSOE and Podemos on forming a government are in their initial phase. The results of the general elections of 20 December have opened the possibility that an agreement between the two parties will dethrone the Popular Party.
The acting Ministry of the Interior is throttling the machinery of its political brigade to offer negative information about Podemos to related media. The Undersecretary of State for Security writes to a prominent member of the police: “Those of Podemos who had a criminal record, have you been able to confirm anything? Commissioner Enrique García Castaño replies that “nothing”. “Cagüenlaputa!” Francisco Martínez exclaims.
The conversation appears in the WhatsApp messages that Martínez intercepted in 2020 as part of the investigation into parapolice espionage of Luis Bárcenas using reserved funds. “It would be very interesting to know… And if they have been involved in national issues, issues of violent extremism, etc…”, the number two of the Interior wrote to the police officer.
“Josetxu Arrieta was the only one who belonged to ETA,” the commissioner explains to the politician. García Castaño explains about some photos he had previously sent to Martínez: “[Es] the last one that appears in the photos I sent you, the Moors with those names, nothing. The Secretary of State for Security makes his disappointment known: “I say that if the others are clean… no street violence, anarchists, etc.???” The commissioner replies: “I'll look into it again, but I don't think so.”