Former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and ex-PP Secretary General María Dolores de Cospedal will testify this Thursday as witnesses in the ongoing Operación Kitchen trial at Spain's Audiencia Nacional in San Fernando de Henares. Rajoy opens the session, followed by Cospedal, amid restrictions by investigating judge Manuel García Castellón. Recent PP-linked witnesses have reported memory lapses.
The Operación Kitchen trial—probing alleged police espionage on Luis Bárcenas to seize PP 'caja B' documents—continues at the Audiencia Nacional. This Thursday, Mariano Rajoy testifies first as a witness, his third appearance there. María Dolores de Cospedal follows, potentially with legal counsel due to her brief prior imputation, enabling her to avoid self-incrimination.
Judge Manuel García Castellón has sidestepped indications against Rajoy and limited Cospedal's probe to two months, dismissing Villarejo recordings and notes. Anticorruption Prosecutors decried this as a 'clear refusal to investigate further,' but appeals failed.
Recent sessions featured inspector Gonzalo Fraga linking aliases 'El Asturiano' and 'El Barbas' to Rajoy. Bárcenas described giving Rajoy a 2010 caja B photocopy, allegedly shredded per a stolen recording. On Tuesday, Cospedal's ex-husband Ignacio López del Hierro and witness Arturo González Panero denied recalling Villarejo contacts.
Tribunal president Teresa Palacios has curbed PP/Cospedal questions, insisting 'the PP is not on trial.' Prosecutors push to clarify roles despite obstacles.
