BARCELONA, Spain (AP) \u2014 Spanish police searched the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party on Wednesday as part of an investigation into possible financial wrongdoing linked to party member who allegedly tried to influence police and legal cases that could damage the party.<\/p>\n
The raid on the office in central Madrid is another blow to the party of Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, whose Socialists have been hammered by a series of corruption scandals<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe respect the justice system, we will collaborate with the courts and there is the commitment in the Socialist Party that if there are new episodes of improper behavior, we will act with the same firmness we always have,\u201d S\u00e1nchez said in a news conference in Rome.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez, Spain\u2019s leader since 2018, brushed off calling early elections, which will have to take place next year at the latest. <\/p>\n The Civil Guard told The Associated Press that the search was strictly limited to a probe led by National Court judge Santiago Pedraz into the possible wrongdoing of Socialist party member Leire D\u00edez and others.<\/p>\n The case against D\u00edez started in 2025 when audio recordings appeared in Spanish media of her apparent involvement in attempts to discredit a member of the Civil Guard\u2019s anti-corruption unit. Further reports linked her to alleged attempts to influence the work of state prosecutors. The judge\u2019s probe is targeted on seeing if she received payments to allegedly carry out these efforts.<\/p>\n The Socialist party said she was acting on her own. Diez, who has left the party, has denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Legal woes mount for Spain\u2019s Socialists<\/p>\n A statement issued by the court on Wednesday said that judge Pedraz ordered the Civil Guard to \u201cconfiscate diverse documentation and electronic archives in an investigation of a ring designed to destabilize judicial processes that were affecting the ruling party.\u201d<\/p>\n The judge said that in addition to D\u00edez, he is now also probing the alleged involvement of former Socialist heavyweight Santos Cerd\u00e1n \u2014 who is already under investigation in a separate corruption case \u2014 as well as a former member of the regional government of Andalusia, a police officer, a business owner and two lawyers. The judge is investigating them on suspicions of bribery, making false testimony, forging commercial documents, influence peddling, and corruption.<\/p>\n The searches add to a growing list of legal cases that are hounding Spain\u2019s Socialists.<\/p>\n Last week a separate court said it was investigating former Prime Minister Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodr\u00edguez Zapatero<\/a> in connection with a government airline bailout. He has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Last year, both Cerd\u00e1n and Jos\u00e9 Luis \u00c1balos, transport minister under S\u00e1nchez, were placed under investigation on allegations they played a part in a kickback ring that started during the COVID-19 pandemic, which they have denied.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez says cases won\u2019t knock his government off course<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez\u2019s wife and brother are also being probed over allegations of influence peddling, which both have denied.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez has called the cases against his family a \u201csmear campaign.\u201d But the corruption case against his former cohorts led him to ask the nation for \u201cforgiveness.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n His minority government depends on the support of a junior coalition partner, which for now has stuck with it despite the judicial actions.<\/p>\n