A government spokesman blasted right-wing and far-right parties for attacking Begoña Gomes.
A Spanish court has summoned the wife of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez as part of a corruption investigation that the government is accusing of being a political assassination.
A Madrid court said on Tuesday that Begoña Gomez will appear in court on July 5 to be questioned about allegations that she used her position to influence business deals.
Gomez has yet to speak publicly about the allegations, but Sanchez has called it a “smear campaign” aimed at damaging the leftist coalition government led by the Socialist Workers' Party.
Spanish government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría told reporters on Tuesday that the investigation into Gomez was based on “lies and disinformation” and that the government knew there was “nothing at all.”
“What's happening here is a smear campaign by the right and the far right, the People's Party and Vox,” she said after the weekly cabinet meeting.
The investigation was based on a complaint filed by a group called Manos Limpias (Clean Hands).
The group has filed lawsuits, many of which are linked to right-wing movements, and has targeted left-wing politicians. Manos Limpias, whose cases against politicians have often been unsuccessful, says the complaints are based on media reports.
After the investigation was launched in April, the prime minister took the unprecedented step of announcing he would be suspended from public duties to consider whether to resign.
After five days of silence, President Sanchez said in a speech that he was determined to remain prime minister and continue working “even more vigorously”.
Spanish prosecutors had sought to have the investigation dismissed, but a regional court ruled that it could continue before a lower-court judge, who can choose to drop a corruption investigation or recommend that it go ahead with a trial.
Gomes' summons was announced just days before the start of voting in the election to elect the next generation of members of the European Parliament. Spaniards will vote on Sunday.
