Politics · Spain · 9 hrs ago

Koldo García’s lawyer steps down from his defense

Koldo García’s lawyer steps down from his defense

Leticia de la Hoz has stepped down as Koldo García’s lawyer, telling Spain’s National Court that confidential professional reasons led her to resign.

García is a former adviser to José Luis Ábalos, a former transport minister, and De la Hoz represented him in several corruption investigations.

She is also under investigation in a separate case, where businesswoman Carmen Pano accused her of offering a bribe; De la Hoz has denied the accusation.

The resignation follows attention around payments for García’s legal defense, including €242,000 paid by the publisher of Okdiario, according to invoices De la Hoz submitted to the court.

García has also claimed that a lawyer for the opposition People’s Party offered to pay his defense costs and give him €1 million for information against the government; that lawyer denies the claim.

People close to De la Hoz say she wants to focus on her own defense, while she cited only professional reasons in her court filing.

García is being asked to choose a new lawyer so his right to legal representation is protected.

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What people are saying

Leticia de la HozLawyer for Koldo García
For professional reasons, the content of which is protected by professional secrecy, I resign from continuing to defend Koldo García Izaguirre in this case.
via El Mundo
Koldo GarcíaFormer aide to José Luis Ábalos
pay my defense and the amount of one million euros in exchange
via El País