The Spanish Supreme Court has validated the decision made by judge Ángel Hurtado to process Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz for a suspected crime of disclosing secrets. The prosecution claims that García Ortiz personally orchestrated the leak regarding a tax-related investigation into Alberto González Amador, the partner of the President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.

The Appeals Court, comprising judges Andrés Palomo, Eduardo de Porres, and Julián Sánchez Melgar, dismissed the appeal filed by the State’s legal representation on behalf of García Ortiz. However, it exonerated Pilar Rodríguez, the head of the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Madrid, from prosecution, stating she was required to report to García Ortiz regarding the inquiry into González Amador.

Judge Hurtado initiated García Ortiz’s prosecution after an eight-month investigation centred on two issues: a press release issued by the Prosecutor’s Office detailing email exchanges and a leak of a critical email related to the case. The judges concurred with Hurtado’s view that the leak of this information was a coordinated effort directed by García Ortiz, highlighting the possibility that the dissemination of confidential data was intentionally conducted.

The judges further remarked on the peculiar deletion of emails and messages by García Ortiz, suggesting it was aimed at concealing information from investigators. They indicated that his inaction could be interpreted as a basis for a potential conviction. In a later analysis, they pointed out that the Prosecutor’s Office should not have disclosed confidential information to counteract what they considered false information, as this could constitute a crime itself.