Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has denied all wrongdoing and called opposition demands that he resign nothing but blackmail, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The scandal involving government contracts being handed out for under the table cash political donations has been slowly unfolding. The key player in the scandal is the former treasurer of the Popular Party, Luis Barcenas, who reportedly kept a secret ledger of all of the illegal dealings that took place between 1990 and 2008, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
Barcenas testified in a Madrid court on Monday that he was personally responsible for distributing cash payments in "brown envelopes" to Rajoy as well as to the Popular Party's secretary-general, Maria Dolores de Cospedal. The payments came from a slush fund that the party filled with bribes for government contracts and then distributed to high ranking politicians for over twenty years, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Rajoy angrily told reporters that "the rule of law does not bow to blackmail" as he refused to resign his post. Spain is currently trying to find their way out of an economic crisis that has left the country with an unemployment rate of 27 percent. Rajoy told reporters that while he will allow himself to be investigated the investigation would not take away from his focus of pulling Spain out of the recession, reports the Los Angeles Times.
"I will fulfill the mandate the Spanish people gave me," Rajoy said at a news conference. "This is a serious democracy...and I will submit myself to investigation. Let no one think we are going to be distracted from getting Spain out of the [economic] crisis."
In front of the judge on Monday Barcenas handed over both handwritten and digital documents that have yet to be revealed; they possibly could contain more damaging evidence for the prime minister. Barcenas told the judge that in 2010 he paid Rajoy and de Cospedal cash bonuses of 25,000 euros, according to El Pais.
Late Monday de Cospedal held a news conference in which she denied all of the allegations made by Barcenas., reports El Pais.
"All of our revenues are declared to the tax office and duly justified," de Cospedal said. "I want to reiterate that I have never given in to blackmail because I have nothing to hide."
Since the Popular Party has an outright majority in the parliament sources told the BBC that it is highly unlikely that Rajoy will resign.
