Minister of Defense Margarita Robles stated on Monday that the information stolen from the mobile phones of President Pedro Sánchez and other members of the government, including herself, in 2021 using the spy program Pegasus, does not affect national security. Robles emphasized that the infected mobile devices did not contain any legally classified information, and while the privacy and personal data of the users may have been compromised, national security has not been impacted by this espionage case. She addressed this issue during her first appearance before the Joint Committee on National Security.
The government itself reported the espionage in May 2022 through the State Attorney, and the case is currently being investigated by the Central Investigation Court number 4 of the National Court. Robles noted that this limited the information she could provide to the members of parliament. She further reiterated that there is no evidence linking the information extracted from the government officials’ phones to a breach of national security, as defined by Spanish legislation. The government’s response to the judge’s request for the declassification of related reports indicated that no classified information existed.
According to the information in the case file, Pedro Sánchez’s phone was targeted multiple times between October 2020 and December 2021, with the first “malicious” infiltration occurring between May 19th and 21st, 2021, resulting in the extraction of 2.57 gigabytes of data. Robles’ phone was attacked four times between May and October 2021, while Grande-Marlaska’s phone was targeted twice between June 2nd and 7th, 2021, and Planas’ phone was attacked once on June 25th, 2021. The government is keen to identify the perpetrators behind the infection and continue cooperating with the judicial process to establish conclusive proof of the authorship.
Despite initially closing the case due to the lack of cooperation from NSO, the Israeli company that sells the Pegasus program, the investigation has been reopened by Judge José Luis Calama following a European investigation order from Paris concerning the espionage of French politicians, journalists, and NGOs with Pegasus. The National Cryptologic Center (CCN), under the CNI intelligence service, is conducting a strictly technical report to compare the findings from the French investigation and determine if the same perpetrator was behind both incidents. Speculation has linked the attacks to Morocco during the peak of tensions between Madrid and Rabat.
Minister Robles emphasized that the government is committed to uncovering the truth behind the infection and will continue working with the justice system to identify the responsible party definitively. The technical report being conducted by the National Cryptologic Center will play a crucial role in determining if there is a connection between the Spanish and French investigations. Despite the challenges posed by the lack of cooperation from NSO and the complexities of international espionage cases, the government remains dedicated to ensuring the protection of national security and safeguarding the privacy of its officials.
